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INNUMERACY: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its ConsequencesWhether public or private, accounting is a peculiar blend of facts and arbitrary procedures which usually require decoding. Government employment figures jumped significantly in 1983, reflecting nothing more than a decision to count the military among the employed. Similarly, heterosexual AIDS cases rose dramatically when the Haitian category was absorbed into the heterosexual category. Adding, though pleasant and easy, is often inappropriate. If each of the ten items needed for the manufacture of something or other has risen 8 percent, the total price has risen just 8 percent, not 80 percent. As I mentioned, a misguided local weathercaster once reported that there was a 50 percent chance of rain on Saturday and a 50 percent chance on Sunday, and so, he concluded, "it looks like a 100 percent chance of rain this weekend." Another weathercaster announced that it was going to be twice as warm the next day, since the temperature would rise from 25 to 50. There's an amusing children's proof that they don't have time for school ...» |
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