Good explanation of the phenomenon. Some thoughts:
The first two quotes and your explanations for them are good. But in this part:
“These statements seem contradictory, yet both describe real effects. The apparent contradiction is caused by a phenomenon known as “regression to the mean,”″
I would add a sentence stating that positive reinforcement is not the actual cause of the regression. This will end any confusion. Additionally, the example with the IQ test needs a bit more clarification. While the average human IQ is around 100, the kid doesn’t necessarily regress to the same average. Most humans have their own “average” that they regress or improve to after periods of extreme positive or negative performance. So the kid might not regress at all if his natural ability is indeed that high.
Hello!
I am a university student studying biology in Ontario. I’ve actually known about lesswrong for a few years before I joined. My good friend likes to share interesting things that he finds on the internet, and he has linked me to this site more than once. Over time, lesswrong has grown increasingly relevant to my interests. Right now, I’m mainly reading posts and dabbling in the sequences. But I hope that I will be able to contribute some ideas in posts or comments once I get used to how things work around here. Some things that interest me are rhetoric, anthropology, software engineering, cloning and transhumanism. Oh, and biology of course, since that is my field of study (but something about NEEDING to study it, instead of voluntarily doing so, diminishes my enthusiasm for it haha). I hope I’ll get you know all better!