3 ms·
Benford's law is as it is because it reflects the structure of our decimal system having a logarithmic pattern where each order of magnitude gets its own column
by adammarples 1y ago
Benford's law is as it is because it reflects the structure of our decimal system having a logarithmic pattern where each order of magnitude gets its own column. It's purely a function of the way we represent the data itself, not the underlying numbers. I don't think these football scores have anything to do with it. Likewise yes in nature this pattern appears a lot due to its great space-filling without overlapping property which has been evolved towards. The football scores thing is pure fluke.
- o11c 1y agoThe common definition of Benford's Law is written in terms of base 10 (or 100, 1000, etc. for subsequent digits), but the underlying principle applies to any base (I'm pretty sure this includes non-integer bases, though I'm not sure about negative bases).
- adammarples 1y agoNo matter what base you use, you're using a numeral system that has an inherent logarithmic distribution of one column per order of magnitude