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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
by 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 agoIt'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 agoYes, I certainly wish schools would teach this better. I think showing different examples with surprising conclusions/outcomes helps people internalize that point.