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OMG, that brief clip was more painful than a whole episode of scorpion. Thanks for introducing me to something that sets such a low bar on TV technobabble!

by opless 4y ago

zimpenfish 4y ago
I watched the first episode of Numb3rs and, IIRC, he found the likely home of the criminal by drawing an analogy from the pattern of crimes to a garden sprinkler. I did not watch any more episodes.
- lelanthran 4y ago
  This I gotta see :-)
- bad416f1f5a2 4y ago
  This analogy is likely based on a pair of complimentary theories in criminology. The first is that criminals commit crimes in an area they know, so their activity is distributed close to home. The second theory essentially says “yeah, but not /too close/“ - and that criminals will leave a buffer zone around their home. So, plot a torus with the center on the offenders home, and most crimes will occur on the disk. This would also work with the pattern a radial lawn sprinkler would make. Unfortunately, while neat theories, the reproduction crisis is happening in criminology as well and I can’t find a good systemic review that says either theory is particularly good. But criminologists believe them, so the show isn’t that far off in those regards.
- ModernMech 4y ago
  That’s a shame, it’s a fun show. I mean, using math to fight crime and solve mysteries is a great concept, and the whole point of Charlie using ridiculous metaphors and analogies is to try and make the concepts accessible to his FBI brother and colleagues (and by proxy the audience). Who cares if they are a stretch or not accurate? It’s math on prime time TV, how else do you get it there?
  - mistrial9 4y ago
    wait - you just gave a "who cares, relax" green light to a theory of incrimination, in the burgeoning age of surveillance, and specifically so "my male family member who is legally paid to incriminate" can understand the concept? in the same breath as saying it cant be real ? Do you get why this is really, really a bad idea?
    - ModernMech 4y ago
      It's a tv show. The criminals and cops aren't real. The episode in question they were just trying to narrow a search space. Anyway, I don't think the real FBI is using TV mathemagic to solve crimes, so I think it's okay to have fun watching a TV show.
      - zimpenfish 4y ago
        > I don't think the real FBI is using TV mathemagic to solve crimes I dunno, they use a whole swathe of dodgy nonsense already.

OMG, that brief clip was more painful than a whole episode of scorpion. Thanks for introducing me to something that sets such a low bar on TV technobabble!

by opless 4y ago

OMG, that brief clip was more painful than a whole episode of scorpion. Thanks for introducing me to something that sets such a low bar on TV technobabble!

zimpenfish 4y ago

I watched the first episode of Numb3rs and, IIRC, he found the likely home of the criminal by drawing an analogy from the pattern of crimes to a garden sprinkler. I did not watch any more episodes.

lelanthran 4y ago
This I gotta see :-)
bad416f1f5a2 4y ago
This analogy is likely based on a pair of complimentary theories in criminology. The first is that criminals commit crimes in an area they know, so their activity is distributed close to home. The second theory essentially says “yeah, but not /too close/“ - and that criminals will leave a buffer zone around their home. So, plot a torus with the center on the offenders home, and most crimes will occur on the disk. This would also work with the pattern a radial lawn sprinkler would make. Unfortunately, while neat theories, the reproduction crisis is happening in criminology as well and I can’t find a good systemic review that says either theory is particularly good. But criminologists believe them, so the show isn’t that far off in those regards.
ModernMech 4y ago
That’s a shame, it’s a fun show. I mean, using math to fight crime and solve mysteries is a great concept, and the whole point of Charlie using ridiculous metaphors and analogies is to try and make the concepts accessible to his FBI brother and colleagues (and by proxy the audience). Who cares if they are a stretch or not accurate? It’s math on prime time TV, how else do you get it there?
- mistrial9 4y ago
  wait - you just gave a "who cares, relax" green light to a theory of incrimination, in the burgeoning age of surveillance, and specifically so "my male family member who is legally paid to incriminate" can understand the concept? in the same breath as saying it cant be real ? Do you get why this is really, really a bad idea?
  - ModernMech 4y ago
    It's a tv show. The criminals and cops aren't real. The episode in question they were just trying to narrow a search space. Anyway, I don't think the real FBI is using TV mathemagic to solve crimes, so I think it's okay to have fun watching a TV show.
    - zimpenfish 4y ago
      > I don't think the real FBI is using TV mathemagic to solve crimes I dunno, they use a whole swathe of dodgy nonsense already.