How Numbers Lie?
Almost every day you are lied to by numbers which most of us think are the sole truth. Want to be smarter than the tricksters? Read Ahead
Common Tricks
· Lying by percentage
Truth: I asked 10 people about my personality and 9 of them said I was handsome
Trick: 90% of the people around me find me handsome
· Lying by Ratio
Truth: A country with 4 equal population states has 1 state with corona cases
Trick: 25 % of the country has corona = 1 in every 4 people has corona
· Lying by categorization
Truth : > 80 % marks = First Division grade and you got 80.1 %
Trick: I passed with the highest grade possible
· Lying by estimation
Truth : population = 1 Crore , 99 lakh people survived , 1 lakh died
Trick: almost everyone survived
Fooling with Numbers
· Placing a 25 bucks chips next to a 20 buck almost identical item, makes the 20 bucks item look cheaper
· Selling a 100 bucks thing as 200 rupees thing with 50 % off sounds like a better deal
· 25% + 25% discount isn’t 50% discount but 43.75% discount
Call to Action
Almost every marketer, business analyst, data analyst, or business owner has used these tricks at least once to sound better than reality. So be aware when deducing things using numbers and take a step back to know more.
Conclusion
There is no way anyone can claim these tricks to be ethical or unethical. The readers can use them to their benefit if they wish to do so. The article was intending to help you dodge the tricks coming at you.