> 5% (1 in 20) is a pretty weak threshold to pass. Let's go 5 sigma (p < 3e-7) for discoveries and reserve 0.05 < p < 3e-7 for stuff we should take closer looks at.
This would still end up leading to misuse of P-values. Let's say you're doing a genome-wide association study on several hundred thousand SNPs. The traditional threshold is 5e-8 (0.05 / 1,000,000 effective tests). So using 3e-7 for the threshold for "discovery", you'd count many things as discovery that shouldn't be so.
On the other hand, let's say you do a study with 20 people with cancer. You give 10 of them a drug, the other 10 a placebo. All 10 with the drug survive; all 10 with the placebo die. Your P value is 0.0002. This doesn't count as discovery, but clinically I know what my judgment is going to be.
This is all to say that the misuse of P-values does not just come from the threshold.
This would still end up leading to misuse of P-values. Let's say you're doing a genome-wide association study on several hundred thousand SNPs. The traditional threshold is 5e-8 (0.05 / 1,000,000 effective tests). So using 3e-7 for the threshold for "discovery", you'd count many things as discovery that shouldn't be so.
On the other hand, let's say you do a study with 20 people with cancer. You give 10 of them a drug, the other 10 a placebo. All 10 with the drug survive; all 10 with the placebo die. Your P value is 0.0002. This doesn't count as discovery, but clinically I know what my judgment is going to be.
This is all to say that the misuse of P-values does not just come from the threshold.