Sabermetrics, the search for objective knowledge about baseball by analysing statistical records, has transformed the sport. But can statistics and formulas really do a better job of picking the best players than a baseball coach with decades of experience?

Professor Steven Pinker is joined by Sig Mejdal, sabermetrician, former NASA engineer and assistant manager of the Baltimore Orioles and by Professor Ellen Peters, director of the Centre for Science Communication Research in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. They discuss the ongoing relationship between human expertise and statistical evidence.

Producers: Imogen Walford and Joe KentEditor: Emma Rippon

Think with Pinker is produced in partnership with The Open University.

ARCHIVELaurel or Yanny: vocabulary.com