Recently psychologists and statisticians have mooted a surprising thesis: despite nearly universal beliefs to the contrary, there is no such thing as streak runs of success in sports; no one has ever been on a roll or had hot hands. In this paper I consider three different arguments to this skeptical conclusion and argue that all three are unsuccessful. I then defend the view that there is such a thing as hot hands in sports, that they are ubiquitous, and that players and observers are often right in identifying them."An Epistemologist Looks at the Hot Hand in Sports"

Steven D. Hales

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport

volume 26, 1999

Pp. 79-87

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