Isn't testing to failure a fairly standard test for scientific types?

Conclusions from the test data may be the subject for debate, but at least it is data, not just subjective or anecdotal information.


I cannot recall which of the giants of science gave us the hierarchy for grading input, or exactly all the grades, but it is something like:

Noise
Information
Data
Knowledge
Wisdom

Edit: well maybe this is it:

http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

data
information
knowledge
understanding
wisdom

Anyway, the point is that the knife tests are grist for our mental mills, and therefore of some use, but are not in and of themselves necessarily either understanding or wisdom.