Using charts to misinform and fool people

➑️ π•Œπ•€π•šπ•Ÿπ•˜ 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣π•₯𝕀 π•₯𝕠 π•žπ•šπ•€π•π•–π•’π•• π•’π•Ÿπ•• 𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕑𝕖𝕠𝕑𝕝𝕖 — Most of us struggle with making sense of numbers and data. Charts are the most common method of making numerical data understandable. Like all tools, they can be used for education just as well as for misinformation. Here’s a common example of how bar graphs can manipulate the viewer’s judgment.

βœ… Key words:Β charts, statistics, misinformation, data

πŸ†€πŸ†„πŸ…ΎπŸ†ƒπŸ…΄πŸ†‚
πŸ’¬ “He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support rather than illumination.” β€” Andrew Lang
πŸ’¬ “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” β€” Mark Twain, who also said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics” — which he in turn attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the British politician.
πŸ’¬ “Sanity is not statistical.” β€” George Orwell (1984)
πŸ’¬ “Miracles are statistical improbabilities. And fate is an illusion humanity uses to comfort itself in the dark. There are no absolutes in life, save death.” β€” Amie Kaufman

Random acts of kindness … make the brain more resilient

Key words: kindness, generosity, compassion, neuroplasticity, neuroscience, resilience, Dalai Lama


ABOUT THIS SERIES OF CARDS: β€œMen follow their sentiments and their self-interest, but it pleases them to imagine that they follow reason. And so they look for, and always find, some theory which, a posteriori, makes their actions appear to be logical.” β€” Vilfredo Pareto