The Off Topic Topic

[Eddie Teach]

Back from the funny farm?

[Napoleon XIV]

The farm wasn't funny enough.

EDIT:  That said, I did visit a farm full of goats about two weeks ago.  One tried to eat my pants.  It was interesting.

[grumbler]

Eleven posts in eleven years?  Make sure you have  fire extinguisher handy, Nap 14 in case your keyboard bursts into flame.

We've had a few long-thought-lost posters return recently.  Good to see another. 

[Zanza]

[DGuller]

I'm not disputing that US lags behind other Western countries on many social equity issues, but these kinds of charts are ideal for cherrypicking.  How many categories were the countries ranked on?  I have a feeling it was a lot more than the 11 that made the cut.

[Zanza]

Obviously it is a selection of statistics considering the sources given at the bottom of the image, so you may consider that cherrypicking. I am sure you can also find statistics where the US looks better. But it seems a rather broad spectrum. I actually found the UK just as interesting as I had expected it to be more "average", like Germany or France.

[The Brain]

30% of Japanese men are overweight or obese? If the WHO said that I suppose it's correct, but it hasn't been my impression in Japan.

[The Brain]

The farm wasn't funny enough.

EDIT:  That said, I did visit a farm full of goats about two weeks ago.  One tried to eat my pants.  It was interesting.

That's a nice story.

[Josquius]

30% of Japanese men are overweight or obese? If the WHO said that I suppose it's correct, but it hasn't been my impression in Japan.

I guess it's by local standards? There's lower boundaries for the bmi categories in Japan.

Also I read that east Asian people tend to carry weight differently, more distributed around the body than all in a few places, so it doesn't show so well.

Thinking about my time there I guess I could see it in the men. Quite a lot of guys, especially older ones, who are at the bottom end of fat.

[Sheilbh]

Obviously it is a selection of statistics considering the sources given at the bottom of the image, so you may consider that cherrypicking. I am sure you can also find statistics where the US looks better. But it seems a rather broad spectrum. I actually found the UK just as interesting as I had expected it to be more "average", like Germany or France.

I expected the UK to be a lot worse and was surprised at how "normal" and European it is.

[Sheilbh]

Just after Dame Diana Rigg, another icon of 60s Britain, Sir Terence Conran, has died
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54131297

I would argue he's probably one of the most important figures in post-war British culture - his design shops, restaurants, bakeries were hugely influential but also just affirmed that food and living and design can be a source of pleasure, joy and indulgence. After 20 years of post-war austerity it was a bracing change that we're still living. In addition as a restauranteur and design shop owner he brought through an astonishing number of modern British designers and chefs (if you've heard of them - there's a pretty good chance they got their start at a Conran venue).

Just one tiny example after lockdown - he opened London's first artisan/sourdough bakeries about 40 years ago and now it is everywhere and something loads of people were making in lockdown. There's so many more tiny things we now take for granted in restaurants or our homes that Conran supported and had the belief that actually, despite the rest of our post-war history, British people could learn to enjoy things and not just look at utility.

[DGuller]

Obviously it is a selection of statistics considering the sources given at the bottom of the image, so you may consider that cherrypicking. I am sure you can also find statistics where the US looks better. But it seems a rather broad spectrum. I actually found the UK just as interesting as I had expected it to be more "average", like Germany or France.

In statistics, cherrypicking = lying.  The fact that there was a broad spectrum to cherrypick from actually makes this less credible, because you had more items at the tail to choose from.  Cherrypicking is what gives a lot of credence to "lies, damn lies, and statistics" saying.

[Zanza]

Obviously it is a selection of statistics considering the sources given at the bottom of the image, so you may consider that cherrypicking. I am sure you can also find statistics where the US looks better. But it seems a rather broad spectrum. I actually found the UK just as interesting as I had expected it to be more "average", like Germany or France.

In statistics, cherrypicking = lying.  The fact that there was a broad spectrum to cherrypick from actually makes this less credible, because you had more items at the tail to choose from.  Cherrypicking is what gives a lot of credence to "lies, damn lies, and statistics" saying.

If the goal is to present societal indicators where the US performs worse than some of its rich nation peers, how is that lying? It shows only parts of reality, but that is not lying.
What might be attacked the headline as there is no clear linkage between the described effects and inequality.

[Tamas]

Obviously it is a selection of statistics considering the sources given at the bottom of the image, so you may consider that cherrypicking. I am sure you can also find statistics where the US looks better. But it seems a rather broad spectrum. I actually found the UK just as interesting as I had expected it to be more "average", like Germany or France.

In statistics, cherrypicking = lying.  The fact that there was a broad spectrum to cherrypick from actually makes this less credible, because you had more items at the tail to choose from.  Cherrypicking is what gives a lot of credence to "lies, damn lies, and statistics" saying.

If the goal is to present societal indicators where the US performs worse than some of its rich nation peers, how is that lying? It shows only parts of reality, but that is not lying.

USA #1 alright?!

[DGuller]

If the goal is to present societal indicators where the US performs worse than some of its rich nation peers, how is that lying? It shows only parts of reality, but that is not lying.
What might be attacked the headline as there is no clear linkage between the described effects and inequality.

Presenting only parts of reality is indeed lying in a statistical context, unless you're specifically stating that you're showing the extreme tail outcomes.  The reasonable expectation when someone makes a point statistically is that they attempt to represent all of reality to the best of their ability.  It's not at all clear from that graph that the author is being upfront about painting a skewed picture.

Let's say you want to create an exhibit showing the outcomes of gambling, and for that exhibit you take all the jackpot winners and no one else.  Technically that's reality, unless you're making up the facts about jackpots being won.  However, it's a "part of reality" deliberately crafted to give people the wrong idea.  That may work for a TV ad, where lying through the teeth has been normalized, but that's not helpful for a serious discussion.