Page 316 - The Love Hypothesis

would do this. Now. “It’s like—it’s like statistical hypothesis testing. Type I

error. It’s scary, isn’t it?”
He frowned. She could tell he had no idea where she was going with
this. “Type I error?”

“A false positive. Thinking that something is happening when it’s not.”
“I know what type I error is—”

“Yes, of course. It’s just . . . in the past few weeks, what terrified me was
the idea that I could misread a situation. That I could convince myself of

something that wasn’t true. See something that wasn’t there just because I
wanted to see it. A scientist’s worst nightmare, right?”

“Right.” His brows furrowed. “That is why in your analyses you set a
level of significance that is—”
“But the thing is, type II error is bad, too.”

Her eyes bore into his, hesitant and urgent all at once. She was
frightened—so frightened by what she was about to say. But also

exhilarated for him to finally know. Determined to get it out.
“Yes,” he agreed slowly, confused. “False negatives are bad, too.”

“That’s the thing with science. We’re drilled to believe that false
positives are bad, but false negatives are just as terrifying.” She swallowed.

“Not being able to see something, even if it’s in front of your eyes.
Purposefully making yourself blind, just because you’re afraid of seeing too
much.”

“Are you saying that statistics graduate education is inadequate?”
She exhaled a laugh, suddenly flushed, even in the dark cool of the

night. Her eyes were starting to sting. “Maybe. But also . . . I think that I
have been inadequate. And I don’t want to be, not anymore.”

“Olive.” He took one step closer, just a few inches. Not enough to
crowd, but plenty for her to feel his warmth. “Are you okay?”

“There have been . . . so many things that have happened, before I even
met you, and I think they messed me up a little. I’ve mostly lived in fear of
being alone, and . . . I’ll tell you about them, if you want. First, I have to

figure it out on my own, why shielding myself with a bunch of lies seemed
like a better idea than admitting even one ounce of truth. But I think . . .”