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And it would be silly to do that. We should not dismiss findings if they happen to corroborate our expectations; that makes us less likely to test our expectations, which means we're less likely to find instances were our expectations are wrong.

Further, you should especially not dismiss findings if you could constructive a narrative for the opposite outcome. And, in this case, I can. If the result had been that older founders typically pay themselves less, I can imagine an explanation of "Older people, generally speaking, have more experience and better understand what it takes to keep a business going."

Related: http://lesswrong.com/lw/im/hindsight_devalues_science/



...or "Older founders generally have saved up more of a cushion for themselves" or...

Good points well made.


I saved your comment for future reference because it's exactly what more online communities need. I don't understand how a community that's built on knowledge sharing can be so dismissive of research.




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