Statistics can lie, not because they are incorrect but
because they are partial, incomplete, so that sometimes what is unreported is
the real fact that’s needed to see things realistically. Still, they can be
interesting—and revealing. As these are, I think:
Amount of money spent per capita on lottery tickets annually:
MI: $239
CT: $265
NJ: $271
MD: $275
GA: $319
NY: $348
WV: $438
RI: $468
DE: $482
MA: $628
“Worldwide, snakebites cause about 100,000 deaths and 400,000 limb
amputations each year.”
FDA Guidelines on acceptable levels of ‘Insect Fragments’ per gram:
Peanut
butter: 0.3
Chocolate:
0.6
Cornmeal: 1
Macaroni: 1
Wheat
flour: 1.5
Ground
allspice: 3
Ground
paprika: 3
Ground
cinnamon: 8
Ground
pepper: 9.5
Ground
nutmeg: 10
Ground
oregano: 125
Sources: Lottery from “Datastream” in Wired (September 2011) p. 44; snakebite from “Salve buys time after
snakebite” by Nadia Drake in Science News
(July 30, 2011) p. 11; Insect fragments from “Datastream” in Wired
(August 2011) p. 36.
Let’s begin where we should, by reminding ourselves that
statistics must be used carefully, with a healthy bit of skepticism. Not that
numbers necessarily lie, but they only tell part of the truth and the part they
don’t tell might be the part that’s of primary significance. “Then there is the
man,” W. I. E. Gates notes, “who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth
of six inches.”
Funny, but I can’t find anything about a W. E. I. Gates. But
being of German/Dutch heritage I do know that wie gehts in German is a common greeting meaning, “How’s it going?”
so even that… Anyway, on to a few of the numbers I’ve found worth some
reflection.
✚ Number of
U. S. prisoners freed between 1989-2007 through DNA evidence—201. The number of
those prisoners that had been (mistakenly) identified by eyewitnesses—77%.
✚ Amount of
money estimated by researchers at the University of California (San Diego)
earned by an email Viagra spammer—approximately $7000/day.
✚ History
of earthquakes in Japan.
1891. Nobi quake, magnitude 8.0, 142,000 houses collapsed,
7,273 killed.
1923. Kanto quake, magnitude 7.9, 694,000 houses collapsed,
143,000 killed.
1964. Niigata quake, magnitude 7.5, 26 killed.
1968. Tokachioki quake, magnitude 8.2, $131 million property
damage, 47 killed.
1978. Miyagi-ken Oki quake, magnitude 7.7, 27 killed.
1993. Hokkaido & Okushiri quake, magnitude 7.7, 500+
homes collapsed, 239 killed.
1995. Kobe quake, magnitude 6.9, $100 billion property
damage, 5,502 killed.
2011. Sendai quake, magnitude 9.0, property damage still
being totaled, 18,000+ killed.
Sources: Gates
online (www.quotegarden.com/statistics).
“Harper’s Index” in Harper’s Magazine
(July 2007) p. 15. “Spam Profits” by Julie Rehmeyer in Wired
(March 2011) p. 46. “Quake-Ready Japan” by Lisa Katayama in
Wired (May 2011) p. 44-45.
(July 2007) p. 15. “Spam Profits” by Julie Rehmeyer in Wired (March 2011) p. 46. “Quake-Ready Japan” by Lisa Katayama in
Wired (May 2011) p. 44-45.
Total 2009 profits earned by the U. S. Federal Reserve Bank:
$46.1 billion.
Of all years since its founding, which was most profitable
for the U. S. Federal Reserve Bank: 2009.
Average number of hours/day a U. S. child spends using some
sort of electronic device (including watching TV): 7.6.
[“Harper’s Index” in Harper’s
Magazine (April 2010, p. 13, 82)]
How many Americans are stressed about work according to the
American Psychological Association: 62%
How many working days are estimated lost each year in the U.
S. due to stress related absenteeism: 275 million.
In the U.S., how much is spent each year on stress related
health care: $22.8 billion.
[“Under Pressure” in Fast Company (April 2010, p. 112)]
When President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the U. S. Supreme
Court, the National Archives were responsible to release all documents relating
to her work while in government service. Turns out she had received 50,000
pages of documents from the Domestic Policy Council (where she had been deputy
director) and 30,000 from the Counsel’s office (where she was associate
counsel). During this period she sent 11,000 pages of emails and received
68,000 pages. The estimated total comes to around 160,000 pages of documents.
This represents four years of government service.
[“Politico Playbook Daily Update” by Mike Allen (May 16,
2010)]
I always find that statistics are hard to swallow and impossible to digest. The only one I can ever remember is that if all the people who go to sleep in church were laid end to end they would be a lot more comfortable. [Mrs. Robert Taft]
Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. [Aaron Levenstein]
So, be discerning with these rather interesting numbers, which come from "Harper's Index," a column I always turn to first when the magazine arrives in the mail.
✔ Average time spent watching TV by Americans between the ages of 43 and 61: 19 hours/week.
✔ Average time spent watching TV by Americans between the ages of 26 and 42: 15 hours/week.
✔ Average time spent watching TV by Americans between the ages of 14 and 25: 11 hours/week.
✔ Number of people who showed up at a farm near Denver which had advertised its fields would be open for one day for free picking: 40,000.
[Source: “Harper’s Index” in Harper’s Magazine (March 2009) p. 13.]
✔Total amount that Canadian banks have required to be bailed out during the 2008-2009 financial crisis: $0.
✔ Percentage of American mortgages in foreclosure or in excess of 90 days delinquent: 7.2%
✔ Percentage of Canadian mortgages in foreclosure or in excess of 90 days delinquent: 0.4%
✔ Percentage change between winter 2008 and winter 2009 in the amount of delinquent U.S. credit-card debt: +47.
✔ Percentage of existing blogs that have not been updated for four months: 94%.
✔ Amount of African farmland purchased by Chinese investors since 2006: 10,851 square miles.
[Source: “Harper’s Index” in Harper’s Magazine (August 2009) p. 11.]
✔ Percentage change since 2002 in average premiums paid to large U.S. health-insurance companies: +87%
✔ Percentage change in the profits of the top ten insurance companies: +428%
✔ Chance that an American bankrupted by medical bills has health insurance: 70%
✔ Percentage of total U.S. home values that Americans owned as equity in 1945: 84%
✔ Percentage of total U.S. home values that Americans own as equity in 2009: 41%
[Source: “Harper’s Index” in Harper’s Magazine (September 2009) p. 13.]