An Actuarial Analysis of Retrospective Rating [Discussion]

Probably the most universal hallmark of the scientific mind is a persistent penchant for pigeonholing. This trait, which to the layman places the ultimate seal of futile dessication upon research and which has been the butt of a multitude of jokes down the centuries, is nevertheless one of the most potent instruments of investigation; for in the broad it leads to a proper perspective in viewing a given field, and in the narrow it leads to the delineation of distinctive relationships between the constituents of the field.