The 2nd is some person's opinion that cites a book from 1967 that cites a study from 1929 that find that 3", 10pt. font is optimal. The author uses this as evidence that their website (20 pt. font) is good.
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Replying to @danluu @_mikesand
I can't seem to find the full text of that 1929 study, but the abstract (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1929-03857-001 …) seems to indicate you're misreading it. It doesn't compare different font sizes and say 10pt is optimal, it only compares different lengths (and uses a 10pt font size).
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Ah, I've got my hands on the contents now, and it does say that in a _previous_ experiment they demonstrated that 10pt was better than alternatives - at a fixed line-length of 80mm. Then they fix the size to 10pt and find that 80mm is optimal. But they didn't vary both at once.
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Since they didn't vary both at once, one hypothesis consistent with their evidence is that line-length should vary in proportional to font size (unsurprising if true), and that there's nothing magical about 10pt font or 80mm line-length but only the ratio.
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Replying to @arntzenius @_mikesand
This is a problem in basically every study I've found on this. Almost all quantities that you'd care about are fixed (and different from what you'd use/see today). People then cite these studies to justify whatever they prefer, but it's not known if the results are generalizable.
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Replying to @danluu @_mikesand
It seems like there are so many variables it's just hard to study it scientifically. While I'm not generally sympathetic to argument from authority ("experts say 66cpl is optimal"), perhaps sometimes craft knowledge is the best you can do?
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On the other hand, the craft knowledge of typography was developed in a very different environment than it is now applied, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Replying to @arntzenius
I can buy expert knowledge in some contexts, but when I've talked to "experts" about this they've claimed that their beliefs are backed by ironclad studies. If the studies they've referred me to are what their beliefs are based on, that's unconvincing (to me).
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Replying to @danluu @arntzenius
Also, this seems straightforward to study compared to many other aspects of human interaction/behavior. I'm not saying it's easy, but I think it's easier than other areas where we don't just give up and rely on expert knowledge.
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Replying to @danluu
I am sceptical (although, only as an interested non-expert) that typographic practice is in fact based on studies rather than tradition, aesthetics & experience. On reflection it seems plausible it's not _unusually_ hard to study. Any ready examples of such "other areas"?
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Most anything that would fall under "behavioral economics", most things people do human subject experiments on in psychology, most or perhaps almost all of sociology. This is at least a well defined problem that one could, in principle, run a set of rigorous experiments on.
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Replying to @danluu @arntzenius
And sure, you can always think of some variable that wouldn't be included in the experiment, but I think the set of such variables is easier to understand than the equivalent set of variables for a question about how humans make decisions or whatever.
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