by Henry Zumbrun
Every time a calibration laboratory issues a pass or fail statement, it is making a bet. The question is whether it knows the odds. Most do not, and neither do the customers who receive the certificate.
There is a moment in every close football game that captures this problem perfectly. The kicker lines up for a field goal. The ball is snapped. He kicks. It sails toward the goal posts, and for one agonizing second, nobody knows. Was it good? Everything about measurement decision risk lives in that moment.
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