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"The system will be 5 times cheaper than current drilling methods" When did it become acceptable to write nonsense like that? How can something be five times l
by awakeasleep 9y ago
"The system will be 5 times cheaper than current drilling methods"
When did it become acceptable to write nonsense like that? How can something be five times less expensive? What is wrong with saying "one fifth the price?"
It's not just this author, I see this in print media everywhere.
- sixothree 9y agoDoes "5 times cheaper" even mean 1/5th of the price? To me, 5 times cheaper implies the starting point is not price of the thing being compared to. "5 times cheaper" sounds like it could be 80% of the price of normal methods. Method A: $1005 Method B: $1000 Method C: $975 Method C seems to be 5 times cheaper than Method B.
- Orou 9y agoYou're confusing cost with savings. Method C provides 5x greater savings on the cost when compared to Method B. It does not mean that the actual cost is 5x less.
- sixothree 9y agoI'm confusing it (on purpose in this case) because the usage is confusing.
- adrianmonk 9y agoIf someone said, "That trip is 20 hours of driving, but we could get there 5 times faster if we fly," then what would you think they mean? I would think 4 hours. Yes, the language "five times cheaper" is imprecise, but common sense says they probably mean the simple interpretation. In fact, because they aren't speaking precisely, it isn't reasonable to apply some kind of super technical methodology to interpret what they're saying.
- h1boo 9y agoLast quarter we went from $1000 profit to $1001. This quarter the profits were $1003. "Our profits grew 200% compared to last quarter, stocks are through the roof this morning". Is there some phrase in stats used to describe this nonsense?
- nsxwolf 9y agoRelative vs. absolute gain?