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July 20, 2007
My beef with statistics.....
I like to say that I hate statistics, which of course I do. But that doesn't mean I don't find statistics like these an endless source of entertainment: 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.As I keep saying (ad nauseam), the greenies want to make the cars, smokestacks, and "Big Oil" the demons in their anthropogenic global warming power play, while downplaying things things that don't fit the agenda. My reaction is to not care. MORE: I realize that not caring about statistics does not solve the problem, but I have noticed a recurrent phenomenon. It often happens that statistics are proferred about persons, events, and things which are ultimately unknowable, and never subject to accurate determination. If reasonable estimates by people acting in good faith are offered and they involve noncontroversial topics, fine. But contentious and political issues are another matter. Simply try to discern the following: How many illegal aliens are there?You'll find plenty of statistics, but they are all hotly disputed, especially by activists on the various sides. As I have discussed before, estimates of illegal aliens range from 7 to 30 million. That's a huge range, and it demonstrates the impossibility of obtaining an accurate number. (My response was to poll the readers!) This is why I distrust statistics in general, and the more disputed a particular issue is, the more I distrust the stats (and of course, the more likely it is that there will never be agreement on them). This is not to say that there are not actual numbers in each case; only that there is no way to absolutely know them. Of course, it's easy for me to disregard data, because most of the opinions I hold do not depend on data. Whether there are 7 or 30 million illegals, or whether gays are only two percent of the population, or how many guns deterred crime -- these numbers do not affect my opinions in the least. Why would they? If there were more Hispanics than blacks (or more Muslims than Jews) should that change anyone's opinion about any of these group of people? I would tend to distrust anyone whose opinion about the nature or character of any group of people was based on their percentage of the population -- and that's yet another reason I distrust statistics, because they are wielded to influence the very people whose thinking I most distrust. posted by Eric on 07.20.07 at 09:39 AM |
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It's a well-known fact that 23% of all statistics are just made up on the spot.