In: science, knowledge, truth. Also: paradox.
Quotes
If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything ⭐
There are many people with an agenda out there, and they will ruthlessly torture statistics until they get the answer they want out of them.
– Malcolm Kendrick, Doctoring Data
There are three types of lies – lies, damn lies, and statistics.
– Benjamin Disraeli
Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.
– Mark Twain
If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Statistics say that very few people die past that age.
99 percent of all statistics only tell 49 percent of the story.
– Ron DeLegge II, Gents with No Cents
Statistics, likelihoods, and probabilities mean everything to men, nothing to God.
– Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
It’s common platitude that knowledge is neutral, but every now and then it would be useful if it was on your side and not theirs.
– John Brunner, The Jagged Orbit
If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea… does that mean that 1 enjoys it?
– George Carlin
Links
How easy it is to lie with statistics
By Zach Star, 4 Feb 2019
https://youtube.com/watch?v=bVG2OQp6jEQ
https://patreon.com/zachstar
From the comments:
- we interviewed 1000 people that have played russian roulette before. 100% of them survived the game. Conclusion: Russian roulette is completely safe to play.
- 30% of car accidents are caused by drunk people. Therefore, 70% are caused by sober people. Conclusion: its safer to drive drunk.
- 1 in 20 people is the victim of a crime. Which means 19 in 20 people are criminals.
- Birthdays are healthy: the more you have of them, the older you will get
- 100% of people who drink water, die
- 100% of people who have ever seen a shark in their life, die. This proves that sharks are deadly and can kill from a mile off.
- Statistics have shown that if you start a sentence with “Statistics have shown” people are more likely to believe you.
- 60% of the time… It works everytime
- Ice cream sales don’t cause heatstrokes
- My Statistics teacher told me: “Statistics is like a Bikini, what it reveals is interesting, what it hides is crucial”
- If 4 out of 5 people suffer from radiation poisoning, does that mean that the 5th guy enjoys it?
- Since there are some people with less then 2 arms, the world average number of arms is somewhere below 2. Meaning if you have 2 arms you have an above average number of arms.
How percentile approximation works (and why it’s more useful than averages)
Things I forgot from 7th grade math: percentiles vs. averages
Long tails, outliers, and real effects: Why percentiles are better than averages for understanding your data
Percentile approximation deep dive: approximation methods, how they work, and how to choose
https://blog.timescale.com/blog/how-percentile-approximation-works-and-why-its-more-useful-than-averages
