Statistically impossible
The interesting thing about issues in life is that we have this need to find some sort of numerical qualifications to justify problems; really this is just an elitist pissing competition. Why must man have this constant need to have a measuring contest? The thing is, we use these statistics to represent an issue when in reality they don't help anybody with anything other than winning an argument. A statistic is just a number it's nothing I see, nothing I hear, and nothing I feel.
Someone rattles off a statistic to me which temporarily makes me ponder until I realize that it means nothing. It's just a number. A measurement made in quantity but some things can't be measure. We try to measure, but somethings can't be quantified. But who would want a world in which every thing could be expressed in number (I know it is ironic that I type the prior statement since technically it is being expressed in 1 and 0s). But if everything was cut and dry there would be no need for similes or metaphors; life would be as boring as weeknight shift at Crate and Barrel.
The funny thing about statistics is that they don't account for the experience. You say that 20% of Wal-Mart employees make over $80,000, but what does that actually mean. What about the 80% that aren't, some of whom have to use food stamps? These are just numbers they tell me nothing about what department these people work in, where they live, how many kids they have. One statistic prompts my need for more.
I suppose statistics are just are way of making ourselves feel aware and caring, but no one want to be another statistic. Numbers don't help us relate to one another they just make us more distant by taking away a picture or a face. At the end of the day all we want is to feel like we care and that we can relate and that we've won the argument with our brilliant application of statistics. Does it make me feel better? Yes. Or I am at least 50% sure.
Someone rattles off a statistic to me which temporarily makes me ponder until I realize that it means nothing. It's just a number. A measurement made in quantity but some things can't be measure. We try to measure, but somethings can't be quantified. But who would want a world in which every thing could be expressed in number (I know it is ironic that I type the prior statement since technically it is being expressed in 1 and 0s). But if everything was cut and dry there would be no need for similes or metaphors; life would be as boring as weeknight shift at Crate and Barrel.
The funny thing about statistics is that they don't account for the experience. You say that 20% of Wal-Mart employees make over $80,000, but what does that actually mean. What about the 80% that aren't, some of whom have to use food stamps? These are just numbers they tell me nothing about what department these people work in, where they live, how many kids they have. One statistic prompts my need for more.
I suppose statistics are just are way of making ourselves feel aware and caring, but no one want to be another statistic. Numbers don't help us relate to one another they just make us more distant by taking away a picture or a face. At the end of the day all we want is to feel like we care and that we can relate and that we've won the argument with our brilliant application of statistics. Does it make me feel better? Yes. Or I am at least 50% sure.
posted by Whit at 2:11 PM
1 Comments:
90% of people say I have a big penis. The remaining 10% are dentists who do not recommend trident.
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