macon77
Active Member
From Dictionary.com... Spurious.2. (of a line of reasoning) Apparently but not actually valid: "this spurious reasoning results in nonsense".
Exempli Gratis (i.e., e.g.): Spurious Observation: some observed result is attributed to a particular cause, but actually results from some independent cause.
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WHAT!?!?
And how, in God's name, is this relevant?
And, should I be concerned, or even care?
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Okay, back in the real world (or not). The following is a hypothetical scenario (alternatively, you may have actually experienced this):
It's Friday night, and you have no life (like Macon77). Your wife has taken a position in another state, and you have nothing better to do than goof around on R2R, or play with your Corallimorphs (admittedly, this could sound bad to the uninformed). In your boredom, you get the "bright" idea that you should somehow "make things better" for your Corallimorphs. Perhaps adding another Actinic+ would be helpful to them? Or, perhaps an extra pinch of baking soda would be useful? Or, perhaps...ad infinitum.
You decide that the "funnest and most useful" thing to do is to finally introduce the new NP Biopellets gadget into your system that has been lying around in wait, proceeding responsibly as you fire-up the new "super thing." Having completed the task, you are still bored. So, you then do some coral re-arrangement, turkey-baste all of the rocks, clean your sandbed, dust off the corals, perform a water change, clean the glass (inside and out), blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Saturday morning rolls around, and you rush in to see how your buddies are liking their new NP Biollets. To your astonishment, everyone is looking "better than ever." You conclude, "$100...well-spent."
HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is it that makes you (me) believe that the NP Super Solution has ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the fact that the shrooms are looking especially happy today? Afterall, they are more visible due to the clean state of the glass. That piece of Chaetomorpha is not "squishing" and "covering" that one up any longer. That one colony over there has no more "dust" on it. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
So, the problem in determining whether the new equipment is doing anything beneficial or not is complicated by having simply ATTENDED to the tank/system. That is, the conclusion that "the new equipment is indeed doing something desirable" may be SPURIOUS.
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Admittedly, this may be an oversimplified hypothetical example. And frequently, potential examples are less dramatic than adding something on the order of a novel filtration system/media, and may occur over very long periods of time. But, hopefully it conveys the general "concern/interest/question."
Stated more directly, the question I pose is this...What things have you done in/to your system that you might have thought were doing some good, but that the results you are basing your conclusion on might be erroneous/spurious?
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Some obvious ones for me might be:
Change in salt brand. (Yes, the tank looked better. But, was I not going through a period of increased vigilance all the while?)
Change in form of Calcium being dosed (gluconate vs. chloride). Change to more "natural" water movement provided by a Vortech vs. that provided by a Koralia. Etcetera, etcetera.
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So, a brief answer to some earlier questions:
WHAT!?!? - I still have no earthly idea.
And how, in God's name, is this relevant? - It may save some money.
And, should I be concerned, or even care? - No, you should not. But, if this is any fun, so be it.
Exempli Gratis (i.e., e.g.): Spurious Observation: some observed result is attributed to a particular cause, but actually results from some independent cause.
-----
WHAT!?!?
And how, in God's name, is this relevant?
And, should I be concerned, or even care?
-----
Okay, back in the real world (or not). The following is a hypothetical scenario (alternatively, you may have actually experienced this):
It's Friday night, and you have no life (like Macon77). Your wife has taken a position in another state, and you have nothing better to do than goof around on R2R, or play with your Corallimorphs (admittedly, this could sound bad to the uninformed). In your boredom, you get the "bright" idea that you should somehow "make things better" for your Corallimorphs. Perhaps adding another Actinic+ would be helpful to them? Or, perhaps an extra pinch of baking soda would be useful? Or, perhaps...ad infinitum.
You decide that the "funnest and most useful" thing to do is to finally introduce the new NP Biopellets gadget into your system that has been lying around in wait, proceeding responsibly as you fire-up the new "super thing." Having completed the task, you are still bored. So, you then do some coral re-arrangement, turkey-baste all of the rocks, clean your sandbed, dust off the corals, perform a water change, clean the glass (inside and out), blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Saturday morning rolls around, and you rush in to see how your buddies are liking their new NP Biollets. To your astonishment, everyone is looking "better than ever." You conclude, "$100...well-spent."
HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is it that makes you (me) believe that the NP Super Solution has ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the fact that the shrooms are looking especially happy today? Afterall, they are more visible due to the clean state of the glass. That piece of Chaetomorpha is not "squishing" and "covering" that one up any longer. That one colony over there has no more "dust" on it. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
So, the problem in determining whether the new equipment is doing anything beneficial or not is complicated by having simply ATTENDED to the tank/system. That is, the conclusion that "the new equipment is indeed doing something desirable" may be SPURIOUS.
-----
Admittedly, this may be an oversimplified hypothetical example. And frequently, potential examples are less dramatic than adding something on the order of a novel filtration system/media, and may occur over very long periods of time. But, hopefully it conveys the general "concern/interest/question."
Stated more directly, the question I pose is this...What things have you done in/to your system that you might have thought were doing some good, but that the results you are basing your conclusion on might be erroneous/spurious?
-----
Some obvious ones for me might be:
Change in salt brand. (Yes, the tank looked better. But, was I not going through a period of increased vigilance all the while?)
Change in form of Calcium being dosed (gluconate vs. chloride). Change to more "natural" water movement provided by a Vortech vs. that provided by a Koralia. Etcetera, etcetera.
-----
So, a brief answer to some earlier questions:
WHAT!?!? - I still have no earthly idea.
And how, in God's name, is this relevant? - It may save some money.
And, should I be concerned, or even care? - No, you should not. But, if this is any fun, so be it.
