LETTERS: EASTLICK'S COLUMN ASSUMES CASUAL LINK

To the editor:

In the Aug. 12 "Right of center" column by Jay Eastlick, I read statements which both amused and disturbed me. Prominently pull-quoted was the following statement: "If an idiot says the world is round, do we discard the empirical evidence and change science?" Although Mr. Eastlick might be justifiably termed old-fashioned in some respects, I found the preceding very surprising.

Two possible explanations offer themselves: Either Mr. Eastlick is a closet flat-earther only now coming into the open, or an error got past your normally capable copy editors, as the empirical evidence I was taught firmly supports the round-earth idiots.

Later, Mr. Eastlick cites numerous studies in support of his statement that "two-parent families are the cornerstone of a healthy society." The studies in question report that adults who are married and children in two-parent families suffer numerous social ills less frequently than those in other situations. However, like so many who are eager to make a point, Mr. Eastlick assumes the causal link.

All the research cited by Mr. Eastlick is correlational, and none of it suggests that marriage causes a reduction of risk.

Take, for example, the Robins and Reiger depression study. The study reports that the married and never-divorced have a lower rate of major depression than those who are single, cohabiting or divorced. Mr. Eastlick's overall premise presumes that marriage reduces the risk of depression. However, it is also possible that those who suffer major depression are less likely to be married and never divorced. In Mr. Eastlick's argument, the chicken-and-egg question again rears its ugly head.

JASON K. GREEN

Cape Girardeau

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jay Eastlick's column in no way attempts to discredit the empirical evidence that the world is round. His point is that information obtained from an unreliable source cannot be discredited just because of its source. Indeed, empirical evidence is unchanged by having an idiot say the world is round. If Newt Gingrich says family values are important, attacking Gingrich and his conservative views in no way changes the empirical evidence that strong families are important to a healthy society.