"Bob Noel" wrote in message
...
If pilots made for better drivers, then average pilots should have fewer
accidents in airplanes, relatively speaking, than average drivers do in
autos.

You can't make that conclusion or assumption.

Sure I can. I just did.

The only valid test of pilots making better drivers is to look at some
means
of putting pilots through drivings tests vs non-pilots. Looking at the
statistics of drivers involved in auto accidents to see if there is a
statistical diffence between pilots/non-pilots would be relevant but not
conclusive.

Even your proposed driving test would not be conclusive. Tests have biases
and inaccuracies too.

That said, statisticians make a pretty good living discovering interesting
facts about the world through nothing more than simple study of the existing
numbers. If you really care, you might want to read the book
"Freakanomics", which has lot of interesting case studies in statistical
conjecture.

Sure, it's technically conjecture, but there's very little in the world that
can actually be *proven* -- there is always a non-zero chance that the
attempt at the "proof" is flawed -- and statistics, when applied in a
careful manner, can reveal all sorts of interesting truths.

Pete