4 ms·

Here's one small data point that popped up in my feed the other day. I haven't fact-checked this with any other sources though. "No one has been murdered in No

by amanzi 6y ago

Here's one small data point that popped up in my feed the other day. I haven't fact-checked this with any other sources though. "No one has been murdered in Norway so far this year" https://phys.org/news/2021-03-norway-year.amp https://phys.org/news/2021-03-norway-year.amp

chmod775 6y ago
Norway has some of the lowest homicide rates worldwide (about 10x fewer per capita vs US), and is also a tiny country population-wise. You'll have trouble finding statistically significant trends there year-to-year, yet alone in a few months. Further, given how culturally different those countries are, trying to compare the two would be ludicrous.
- bawolff 6y ago
  > Further, given how culturally different those countries are, trying to compare the two would be ludicrous. If the original post was making a comment about american culture (its "hyperviolence"), why wouldn't you compare it to a different culture? That is how comparisons work.
  - chmod775 6y ago
    > why wouldn't you compare it to a different culture? That is how comparisons work. Sure, yes. That's how comparisons work if you'd wanted to make that kind of comparison. Or you might want to compare to similar countries where you don't have to control for so many variables.
    - saiya-jin 6y ago
      there is probably no similar country to US in this kind of regard, unless you start ignoring pretty important factors (high criminality rate, western democracy, prevalence of legal and illegal guns and so on)
- throwaway59553 6y ago
  >Norway has some of the lowest homicide rates worldwide (about 10x fewer per capita vs US), and is also a tiny country population-wise. That's why you compare the crimes commited per capita. The demographics of Norway and that of the USA is nothing alike.
  - chmod775 6y ago
    To quote myself: "homicide rates". So yes I was comparing per-capita. However Norway is so tiny that fluctuations of even +/- 50% year-to-year are likely to be just noise. A tiny country may have one homicide one year, then three the next. Or as a journalist would put it: "Murders in Norway skyrocket. Up 200%."
    - jhgb 6y ago
      But five million is not "a tiny country". It's the fourth decile or so. It's slightly larger than Los Angeles in population and apparently Los Angeles homicide rate has oscillated in the 5.0-6.3 per 100k region between 2010 and 2019, with annual ±10% fluctuations. That's way less than ±50% that you expect for the same population.
      - chmod775 6y ago
        You do realize you're posting in a thread where someone just posted an article saying the number of homicides this year so far in Norway were 0? Last year they had 31.
        jhgb 6y ago
        How is that relevant for the claim whether five million is or isn't tiny? It's not tiny, as the comment I responded to was claiming.
      - tsdlts 6y ago
        Population density of Norway is about 38 people per square mile. Population density of LA is 7009 people per square mile. I don't think it's a fair comparison just because absolute population is similar.

by amanzi 6y ago

chmod775 6y ago

Norway has some of the lowest homicide rates worldwide (about 10x fewer per capita vs US), and is also a tiny country population-wise. You'll have trouble finding statistically significant trends there year-to-year, yet alone in a few months. Further, given how culturally different those countries are, trying to compare the two would be ludicrous.

bawolff 6y ago
> Further, given how culturally different those countries are, trying to compare the two would be ludicrous. If the original post was making a comment about american culture (its "hyperviolence"), why wouldn't you compare it to a different culture? That is how comparisons work.
- chmod775 6y ago
  > why wouldn't you compare it to a different culture? That is how comparisons work. Sure, yes. That's how comparisons work if you'd wanted to make that kind of comparison. Or you might want to compare to similar countries where you don't have to control for so many variables.
  - saiya-jin 6y ago
    there is probably no similar country to US in this kind of regard, unless you start ignoring pretty important factors (high criminality rate, western democracy, prevalence of legal and illegal guns and so on)
throwaway59553 6y ago
>Norway has some of the lowest homicide rates worldwide (about 10x fewer per capita vs US), and is also a tiny country population-wise. That's why you compare the crimes commited per capita. The demographics of Norway and that of the USA is nothing alike.
- chmod775 6y ago
  To quote myself: "homicide rates". So yes I was comparing per-capita. However Norway is so tiny that fluctuations of even +/- 50% year-to-year are likely to be just noise. A tiny country may have one homicide one year, then three the next. Or as a journalist would put it: "Murders in Norway skyrocket. Up 200%."
  - jhgb 6y ago
    But five million is not "a tiny country". It's the fourth decile or so. It's slightly larger than Los Angeles in population and apparently Los Angeles homicide rate has oscillated in the 5.0-6.3 per 100k region between 2010 and 2019, with annual ±10% fluctuations. That's way less than ±50% that you expect for the same population.
    - chmod775 6y ago
      You do realize you're posting in a thread where someone just posted an article saying the number of homicides this year so far in Norway were 0? Last year they had 31.
      - jhgb 6y ago
        How is that relevant for the claim whether five million is or isn't tiny? It's not tiny, as the comment I responded to was claiming.
    - tsdlts 6y ago
      Population density of Norway is about 38 people per square mile. Population density of LA is 7009 people per square mile. I don't think it's a fair comparison just because absolute population is similar.