Some years ago an American boy aged 11 was on the verge of being expelled from school. Although he seemed to be very smart, he was having great difficulty learning and would frequently throw himself on the floor kicking and screaming. His parents found out that we had written special software designed to run on a hand-held computer. The intent was to have any nearby adult record meals, sleep, behavior, medications and so on in a digital diary. Like ancient astrologers, we had boldly asserted that the Universe was orderly and events in the past caused actions in the present. The software was not thoroughly tested (barely in beta) and there were problems with the batteries that powered the computers. The school and the teachers preferred to remove the boy immediately, and both sides had brought lawyers to the meeting. Ultimately, after we quoted Saint Luke chapter 18 verse 16 ("Suffer the little children to come unto Me ..."), a two week extension was agreed to. We analyzed the first week's data and
emailed a note to the parents that, although we were not biochemists, our statistical software showed a high correlation
(with a lag or time offset) between eating chocolate-covered raisins and what were called seizures. We suggested reducing the snack.
Ominously, they sent no (zero) data the next week and, more ominously, there were no messages. With some trepidation, we drove over to the family's home
figuring we had done something offensive. The father greeted us
"We have our son back. Come see." It turned out things were great - the snack had been changed to organic raisins and the so-called seizures plummeted from 40 a month to 2. The boy graduated high school one year late, but with a B+ average, some friends and a date to the prom. He
graduated college, married, has two bright and well-behaved children
and practices law in North Carolina. We never did find out if the
problem was the chocolate, the "inorganic" raisins or something else.