"98% of all statistics are made up"

Error message

Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /var/www/pied-piper.ermarian.net/includes/common.inc).

Pages

Author	Topic: "98% of all statistics are made up"
Thuryl ...b10010b... Member # 869	written Saturday, September 6 2003 14:48 Profile Homepage #25 Eh, those statistics have been massaged quite a bit. I've looked around a bit and found other "if the world were a village of 100 people" essays. From the BarnesandNoble.com summary of "If The World Were A Village", http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?pwb=1&ean=9781550747799 quote: If the world were a village of 100 people, only seven would have computers, only nine would speak English (22 would speak a dialect of Chinese) and 60 would always be hungry. quote: More than six billion people inhabit the Earth. With interesting results, Smith compresses this impressively large number down to a more understandable figure, 100 persons, and in 9 spreads offers data on such topics as nationalities, languages, ages, religions, and education as represented in a condensed global village. For instance, in this community, 22 inhabitants speak Chinese, 9 speak English, and 7, Spanish. Ten are under the age of 5 and only 1 is over 79. Other tidbits: 76 people have electricity, but most use it to light their houses at night only, and 24 do not have access to it. Note in particular the discrepancy in the number who have computers: 1 compared to 7. Other pages often put the number of Africans at 12 rather than 8. The "10% of the population is gay" figure gets thrown around a lot, but I find it implausible. This seems a fairly unbiased source that rejects the 10% figure: http://www.freetobeme.com/yw_minn.htm Here's a more detailed analysis of the piece: http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/populate.htm -------------------- I believe there are 15 747 724 136 275 002 577 105 653 961 181 555 468 044 717 914 527 116 709 366 231 425 076 185 631 031 296 protons in the universe, and the same number of electrons. -- Sir Arthur Eddington Posts: 9973 \| Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Kakashi Lifecrafter Member # 521	written Saturday, September 6 2003 15:47 Profile Homepage #26 Indeed, the last page is important. Why? It is the urban legends webpage. -------------------- I am not really here. Posts: 956 \| Registered: Wednesday, January 16 2002 08:00
Lord of Evil Warrior Member # 3404	written Tuesday, September 9 2003 15:27 Profile Homepage #27 Is Chile a rich nation, a poor nation or inbetween. Anyway the U.S has the highest Crimerates in the world. The majority of adults in Massachusetts can not read above the 8'th grade reading level. And where one of the smarter states in the Union, so pictore the ill-literate population in the rest of the Country. The majore cities in the U.S, (L.A, Detroit, Chicago, Washington, DC, Atlana, Miame) are probily the most violent big citiess in the world. Although crime rates in Newyork and Boston have gone down significantly in past years probily due to majore growth in the Econemy in the 80's and 90's. Forty percent of Hispanics live under the poverty level, fourty two percent of African Americans live under the poverty level, twenty percent of white Americans live under the povert level. Professional Athlets make the most money in the U.S. the President makes less money than a MLB outfielder which is one of the less paid positions in MLB. And yet the U.S is one of the richest nations in the world, but Luxemburg is the richest nation in the World. But the U.S has the second strongest military in the world following Russa which has the strongest military in the world. [ Tuesday, September 09, 2003 15:29: Message edited by: Lord of Evil ] -------------------- "I am young, I am twenty years old:yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow." All QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Posts: 51 \| Registered: Thursday, August 28 2003 07:00
WiKiSpidweb Infiltrator Member # 3441	written Tuesday, September 9 2003 16:58 Profile Homepage #28 Where do you get the idea that Russia has a stronger military than us? If you go by number of active personnel or the total number of personnel (including reserves), China's military is the best. If you go by how high tech it is or how much money goes into it, the U.S. is the best. The only thing that russia has more of is nukes, but that doesn't matter, because they are all rusting in their silos and wouldn't work if they were launched anyway. -------------------- -WildKarrdeSmuggler ----------------------------------- Visit the Smuggler's Alliance Posts: 536 \| Registered: Sunday, September 7 2003 07:00
RentPeople Infiltrator Member # 2669	written Tuesday, September 9 2003 18:41 Profile Homepage #29 Luxemburg is the European equivalent of the Cayman Islands. It's an offshore banking haven, it's no wealthier than Belgium or Holland. The wealthiest nation in the world, per capita, would probably be the Vatican, closely followed by Monaco. -------------------- ... Posts: 647 \| Registered: Wednesday, February 19 2003 08:00
The_Nazgul Infiltrator Member # 2940	written Tuesday, September 9 2003 19:54 Profile Homepage #30 quote: Is Chile a rich nation, a poor nation or inbetween. I think Chile is clasified in those "in route to development countries". Its not a rich country, but it is not as poor as our other neighbors in South America and the guys in Africa. It has a fair number of poor people, but there is a growing number of middle class. Also, Chile is considered the most solid economy in South America, with all the trouble the Argentinians and Brasilians have had lately. A proof of this is the Free Trade Agreement made with Canada, E.U. and the U.S. , we are currently working with the Koreans...in a few years we will be free-trading with every continent, hopefully Macs will get cheaper. [ Tuesday, September 09, 2003 19:56: Message edited by: The_Nazgul ] -------------------- "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work, I want to achieve it through not dying." Posts: 469 \| Registered: Thursday, May 1 2003 07:00
csours Lifecrafter Member # 87	written Wednesday, September 10 2003 13:02 Profile Homepage #31 well, there is good news: the crime rate in the US has gone down this year. Except for buglary (sp) murder and rape. (FAQSLEF) -------------------- Tip of the Day: #13 Stand clear the closing door. That's treason. (THNIK)(Peculiar James, FP productions co, inc) Posts: 816 \| Registered: Friday, October 5 2001 07:00
Lord of Evil Warrior Member # 3404	written Wednesday, September 10 2003 17:48 Profile Homepage #32 Sadly Argentina and Brasil are not what they use to be financially speaking. I know Kidnapping is very common in the Andes Mountains section of South America. As for the Vatican it is very rich but it's only the size of a city, so Italy protects them. I hear Luxemburg was the richest nation but my source may be wrong. As for Russas nukes they still pose a treat. Russan Arms smugglers sell groups like the Alqueda or the Baath Party. So even though the Russan Gove does not plan to use the Nukes they still are a treat because the smugglers are selling them to terrorists. However I still say China will take the world over one day. I know they trade with us and everything but I still say they will take over. Due to trade not in the near future but in the remote future. I'm not saying a few years from now, I'm saying about 10-20 years from now. Remember 10-20 years is a long time, who knows what will happen by then. That is enough time for Russa to rebuild and become our Rivals again. Think of what happend in the last ten years, who knew groups like the Alqueda and the Baath party would become so powerfull. -------------------- "I am young, I am twenty years old:yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow." All QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Posts: 51 \| Registered: Thursday, August 28 2003 07:00