" Lacking such a
narrative, I am a strong believer in the "normal distribution" (the
bell-shaped curve) as there has yet to be a natural process than did not
produce data in strict adherence to the "normal distribution"

Actually few natural processes produce normal distribution data.  Nearly all produce fractal distributions or worse.  The exceptions where normal distributions occur are games of chance and some very limited physics type experiments.

Examples of non normal distribution curve results:

Weather
Coast line shapes
interval between drips from a faucet 
stock market prices at all time intervals
the vast majority of breeding data.
interval between your heart beats
Planet orbits in our solar system (or any other orbital system involving more than three bodies)
The shapes of trees and tree leaves
The distribution of galaxies in the universe

Dick




" Any discovery made by the human mind can be explained in its essentials to the curious learner."  Professor Benjamin Schumacher talking about teaching quantum mechanics to non scientists.   "For every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong."  H. L. Mencken

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