4 ms·
The entire point of language like "order-of-magnitude" in an article is to convey uncertainty, and that you're sure at the level of the log of the number. Erro
by gibba999 5y ago
The entire point of language like "order-of-magnitude" in an article is to convey uncertainty, and that you're sure at the level of the log of the number.
Error bars are important.
A different poster pointed out other language in the article which DID estimate 4 million deaths more precisely, but that level of imprecision is exactly what scientists and engineers mean by "order-of-magnitude."
It's common for press to take a result with huge error bars, and to condense it to a number.