I think that developing the statistical bullshit awareness of the citizens is an urgent task. However, it is difficult for us to reach a significant number of them. Therefore I think we should focus on two targets: journalists and teachers.
There is a French association which has been fighting against the warped use of figures and statistics in the media for almost fifteen years. Its name is Pénombre and they publish regular letters debunking biased uses of statistics in the press. And they do it with humour. In my opinion, reading their publications should be compulsory in the schools teaching journalism. Here is their website (for those who read French): Pénombre "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
True, I think - although for some values of 'journalist' DIY may be a better option.
Realistically, you can never expect most of the population to keep up with statistical arguments. Aside from basic rules of thumb (e.g. ignore percentages, think absolute numbers) most people don't have the cognitive skills or the education to understand statistical analysis.
But they do understand, and can repeat, narratives that they've been fed. So creating narratives will have more of an effect.
This comes perilously close to saying that in the age of information there will be a small, numerate aristocracy who actually understand what's going on, and vast numbers of rubes who're being fed just-so-stories and moved around like so many pieces in a game of chess by the elites.
Surely the future is not so dark?
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Furthermore, I am not as pessimistic as some here with respect to the possibility of enhancing numeracy. Consider how monumental a task it is to ensure basic literacy. Yet that is possible. We do not today make an effort towards ensuring that the broad population possesses basic numeracy that is a fraction of the effort we make towards ensuring that the same people possess basic literacy.
Furthermore, if somebody said 'Bill Gates is very rich - therefore all Americans are rich,' which is the rough plain-text equivalent of what these bozos in Svenskt Näringsliv did with their numbers, I am fairly confident that not only most newsies, but the majority of the general population would notice. And yes, their treatment is actually that bad.
Perhaps it is because there is less of a soft middle road with numbers - to some extend, you either get it or you don't. With text, OTOH, there's the middle road, where you know what it says but not what it means.
