Question

What are some of the reasons for the Linear Hypothesis proponents (those who believe in it) and opponents (those who don’t agree with it) ?

Answer 1

Linear regression has many practical uses:

• If the goal is prediction, or forecasting, or error reduction,^{[clarification needed]} linear regression can be used to fit a predictive model to an observed data set of values of the response and explanatory variables. After developing such a model, if additional values of the explanatory variables are collected without an accompanying response value, the fitted model can be used to make a prediction of the response

There is a lot of evidence against the linear hypothesis.Here is some of it.

• The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission composed of Japanese and American scientists has kept track of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors and estimated how much radiation each received. According to the linear hypothesis, these survivors should have had more cancer than has been observed.
• People living at high altitudes or at locations in India with high natural thorium levels should have had more cancer than has been observed.
• People in areas with high emissions of radon from granite and other rocks should have more cancer than has been observed. The EPA's estimate of the number of lung cancers caused by radon is based on the linear hypothesis and is almost certainly a large exaggeration. If so, the very expensive remedial measures proposed are a waste of money that would better be spent on getting rid of more serious threats to public health