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I believe this idea to be misguided. The point of the process is to understand. You can't understand without "interpretation" -- looking for just the biggest numbers inevitably leads you astray.
The issue isn't what you can rationalize -- "don't be stupid" is still the baseline, level zero criterion.
A specification of what kind of answers will be acceptable and what kind will not.
Are you asking whether your spaghetti factory mixes flour and water in the right ratio?
Not being stupid is an admirable goal, but it's not well-defined. I tried Googling "spaghetti factory analysis" and "spaghetti factory analysis statistics" for more information, but it's not turning up anything. Is there a standard term for the error you are referring to?
Can't I have my common sense, but make all possible comparisons anyway just to inform my common sense as to the general directions in which the winds of evidence are blowing?
I don't see how informing myself of correlations harms my common sense in any way, and the only ... (read more)