INFLUENCING WITH STATISTICS
When the news leaked out in 1994 that Intel's Pentium computer chip was faulty, two statistics hit the press to describe how computer users would be affected.
IBM calculated it would affect an average spreadsheet user every 24 days; Intel claimed it would happen every 27,000 years. Since these two estimates differ by approximately 32,400,000 percent, it is no wonder cynics claim there are "three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."[17]
Nevertheless, we can't ignore the fact that statistics are often portrayed as the ultimate in hard evidence.
"There are no facts, only interpretations."
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Use Credible Sources
Statisticians say, "Figures don't lie, but liars figure." Since skeptics know ...
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