College of Alameda [email protected] Copyright © 2008 Patrick McDermott.

Silly Stats

College of [email protected]

Copyright © 2008 Patrick McDermott

Meaningless Statistics

Painful Precision

• 千里の道も一歩から• Sen ri no michi mo ippo kara

老子 Lao Tzu (~500 BCE)道德經 Tao Te Ching [Dao De Jing] , Verse 64

• “Even a journey of a thousand Ri’s starts from one step.”

• “Even a Journey of 2,443.1398 Miles starts from One Step”

• “Even a Journey of a Thousand Miles starts from 0.409332787556283 Step”

葛飾北斎 , 東海道保ケ谷

President of Rodents

“The population of mice in central New York goes up and down in a four year pattern, reaching its peak in Presidential election years. This may be a coincidence.”—Darrell Huff

Hungry for Hot Dogs?• Hot Dogs come in packages of 10• Hot Dogs Buns come in packages of 8• You must buy 40 of each to work out evenly

Carry a BombWhen travelling,

Always take a bomb with youonto the airplane

The odds against there being2 bombs on the same plane

are fantastic!

⅓ of all Accidents Involve Alcohol

Conclusion:Drink as much as possible:

You’re twice as likely to have an accidentWhen you’re NOT drinking

It has to be You

“One out of every four people is suffering from some form of mental illness. Check three friends. If they’re OK, then it’s you.”

Most Dangerous Occupation• Fighting Fires• Backyard Sports• Cooking• Horseplay