WorkingHumor.com
The Importance of Numbers
Now that we have got you Literate :-), Let us check
whether you are Numerate too. John Allen Paulos asserts that most of us
are not.
In Paulos's words - "I remember once listening to
someone at a party drone on about the difference between 'continually' and
'continuously'. Later that evening we were watching the news and the TV
weathercaster announced there was 50% chance of rain on Saturday and 50%
chance of rain on Sunday and therefore 100% chance of rain over the
weekend. The remark went right by the self styled grammarian, and even
after I explained the mistake to him, he wasn't nearly as indignant
....."
Personally, I thought I was reasonably good with numbers.
I didn't realize how innumerate I was till I went through Paulos's book
INNUMERACY
Mathematical Illiteracy and its consequences.
Do you know the difference between a billion and a
trillion? That the probability of being killed by a terrorist is 1 out of
1.6 million as compared to 1 out of 5,300 of dying in a car crash? That
all you need to do to establish yourself as a stock market (scam) expert
and give 500 people six correct predictions in a row is to start with
32000 people?
So double check your numerical literacy by picking
Paulos's Book
BUY
NOW
(Note: This book is written in humorous style as far as
the narrative is concerned but gets extremely serious every time Paulos
gets to the numbers. He is a whiz at Mathematics and it shows, sometimes
leaving you dazed with numbers.)
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