"Prescriptive" statistics in the sense you're describing are probabilities.
And they're both used and useful much of the time. The field of risk management and industry of insurance are based on it.
Your frustrations are not uncommon. They are, however, rather poorly-founded.
They're an excellent illustration failing to get a handle on this safety thing (where "safety" is the inverse of "risk", as one of yesterday's submissions addresses:
There's also the philosophical question around the "sea battle" question, in which the truth of a statement about a future possibility ("there will be a sea battle tomorrow") is assessed.
And they're both used and useful much of the time. The field of risk management and industry of insurance are based on it.
Your frustrations are not uncommon. They are, however, rather poorly-founded.
They're an excellent illustration failing to get a handle on this safety thing (where "safety" is the inverse of "risk", as one of yesterday's submissions addresses:
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34036978>
There's also the philosophical question around the "sea battle" question, in which the truth of a statement about a future possibility ("there will be a sea battle tomorrow") is assessed.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_future_contingents#...>