Kernel Of Doubt: Testing Math Preference Vs. Corn-Eating Style

Original-research debunk of Ben Tilly's viral claim that a mathematician's analysis-vs-algebra preference predicts how they eat corn (spiral vs rows). Scott put both questions on the 2019 SSC survey (2,683 with both, separated by decoy questions); a chi-square shows NO significant association. Re-run limited to Math PhDs: still nothing (trend in the opposite direction). Cites McLaury's power-of-suggestion + selective-memory explanation, and adds quirky cross-tabs (eating-in-rows tracks early English colonists; spirals more common among recent immigrants/Hindu Indians).

Quality 60 · Strong. Strong, floor. A clean, honest, original-research debunk of a fun viral claim (which had reached a math-conference keynote) — proper chi-square, a PhD subgroup check, and a frank null. Held at the Strong floor by the frivolous topic and null result; the debunking value + careful method lift it above the comedy/stub tier.

Claude’s paradigm shift 42 · Moderate. Moderate (42). The contribution is the empirical test itself (nobody had formally run it); it debunks rather than advances a claim.

Real-world impact 1 · Negligible. Negligible (1). A frivolous-topic null-result curio; corrects a viral myth within the readership, little reach.