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> ...the 10% they are choosing to ignore is comprised of millions of people. I don't understand your point here. Is it that somehow, some people are more than

> ...the 10% they are choosing to ignore is comprised of millions of people. I don't understand your point here. Is it that somehow, some people are more than 10% likely to run into the 10%? Well, that's obvious. Roughly speaking, you'd expect 10% of commenters to be in that 10%, unless we're talking about something that disproportionately does or does not affect people interested in technologies, startups, etc..

MyHypatia 7y ago
The point is that people often have an opinion, cite one statistic to validate their opinion, miss the bigger picture (because summarizing anything complex with a single number, rarely tells the whole story), and in the face of additional evidence stick to that one statistic that validates their original opinion. I see it happen a lot. Both on HN and elsewhere too. Presenting multiple statistics that shine a different light on the same population, enriches the conversation, and gives a more complete characterization of the population/situation/phenomena etc. I also personally found that combined set of statistics enlightening because I previously did not realize how large the population of female veterans is, since I had only read about the percentages not the absolute numbers.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  It's a problem of lack of STEM education, unfortunately. More specifically, of metrology. "90% of elementary school teachers" is not directly comparable to "90% of veterans". You have to multiply them by their respective populations to get numbers that can be compared. In general, a thing of the form "$amount of $something" is not comparable to "$amount of $somethingelse". That amount being a fraction with a '%' sign in front of it doesn't change anything. Unfortunately, schools aren't beating people with sticks until they internalize that point, while at the same time a good part of sales and marketing relies on people not being formal enough in their thinking.
  - MyHypatia 7y ago
    Yes, I certainly wish schools would teach this better. I think showing different examples with surprising conclusions/outcomes helps people internalize that point.

MyHypatia 7y ago

The point is that people often have an opinion, cite one statistic to validate their opinion, miss the bigger picture (because summarizing anything complex with a single number, rarely tells the whole story), and in the face of additional evidence stick to that one statistic that validates their original opinion. I see it happen a lot. Both on HN and elsewhere too. Presenting multiple statistics that shine a different light on the same population, enriches the conversation, and gives a more complete characterization of the population/situation/phenomena etc. I also personally found that combined set of statistics enlightening because I previously did not realize how large the population of female veterans is, since I had only read about the percentages not the absolute numbers.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
It's a problem of lack of STEM education, unfortunately. More specifically, of metrology. "90% of elementary school teachers" is not directly comparable to "90% of veterans". You have to multiply them by their respective populations to get numbers that can be compared. In general, a thing of the form "$amount of $something" is not comparable to "$amount of $somethingelse". That amount being a fraction with a '%' sign in front of it doesn't change anything. Unfortunately, schools aren't beating people with sticks until they internalize that point, while at the same time a good part of sales and marketing relies on people not being formal enough in their thinking.
- MyHypatia 7y ago
  Yes, I certainly wish schools would teach this better. I think showing different examples with surprising conclusions/outcomes helps people internalize that point.