Cijfers worden alom misbruikt
It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of the castle and to see the battle and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth ( a hill not to be commanded and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below.
From Of Truth, Francis Bacon
De afgelopen jaren worden cijfers steeds meer misbruikt om politiek of geldelijk voordeel te behalen of om paniek te zaaien om daarmee de massa’s in beweging te krijgen. Dat beweert Professor John Brignell, een gepensioneerde Engelse wetenschapper. Om dit aan te tonen zette hij een site op waar hij laat zien wat hij daarmee bedoelt.
Als je de site doorgesnuffeld hebt, geloof je geen enkele bewering meer die door wetenschappers de media in wordt geslingerd.
This site is devoted to the monitoring of the misleading numbers that rain down on us via the media. Whether they are generated by Single Issue Fanatics (SIFs), politicians, bureaucrats, quasi-scientists (junk, pseudo- or just bad), such numbers swamp the media, generating unnecessary alarm and panic. They are seized upon by media, hungry for eye-catching stories. There is a growing band of people whose livelihoods depend on creating and maintaining panic. There are also some who are trying to keep numbers away from your notice and others who hope that you will not make comparisons. Their stock in trade is the gratuitous lie. The aim here is to nail just a few of them.
