Statistics started as the art of summarizing large amounts of data, with an additional goal of allowing comparisons between datasets.
Fischer-- the 'sufficient statistics', often two numbers which, combined with an assumption, are sufficient to fully describe a dataset (i.e. assume normality and measure mean and variance).
Statistics as data compression.
The need to summarize is a concession to the structure of our minds. A computer, with a different structure, can easily hold millions of points in its working memory. ( like B.B: Mesquita's use of game theory to predict negotiation outcomes).
How, then, should we do stats? In the end we DO need a summary, a conclusion.
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