Information rushes at us with overwhelming speed and intensity; we lack the capacity to take it in, much less analyze it intelligently. The stream washes over us, and much of it adheres to our subconscious minds without benefit of filter.
I hope to write soon about Joel Salatin's article, "The Human Touch in Food Is What We're Losing." I have enormous respect for Mr. Salatin and Polyface Farms, and don't want this to take away anything from the importance of what he says. I know all too well how easy it is to make errors in writing followed by errors in editing and proofreading.
Nonetheless, while re-reading his article preparatory to writing the upcoming post, the following statement jumped out at me:
Of the 1.3 million farmers over age 65, only 300,000 are 35 or younger.
(I'm betting on a cut-and-paste error for that one; it happens to me a lot.) After a moment's amusement, I realized it brought up a serious point, hence this post. There are far more serious numerical errors that come our way, unchallenged.
That particular numerical nonsense was easy to catch, but mark that I only noticed it on my second reading. And it was an easy mistake to see. Most of the numbers that fly so confidently through our information stream are more difficult to verify, even if we have the time, ability, and will to attempt it. Yet that doesn't stop whatever point those numbers are illustrating from staying with us. Especially when they're picked up and quoted and requoted all around the Internet and the office watercooler.
What I tell you three times is true. — Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark
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