Something to think about

[hobbes4star 0]

From Phillip M Harter, MD, Stanford University, School of Medicine:
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, here's what you would have:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south)
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth, and
all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer."

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[Dougiefresh 0]

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/populate.htm

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[SpeedRacer 1]

yep, these "statistics" are pretty typical of the crap floating around people's inboxes.


every once in awhile my parents forward me some EBS like this. They're intelligent people, but they aren't very math-savvy. Most of the time if you get an email like this & just sit down & do a little math you can realize it's bullshit.

Speed Racer
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[Lucky... 0]

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From Phillip M Harter, MD, Stanford University, School of Medicine:
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, here's what you would have:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south)
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth, and
all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer."

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1 would own a computer

That would virtually ruin IMing.

[hobbes4star 0]

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That would virtually ruin IMing

and internet dating

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[pirana 0]

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yep, these "statistics" are pretty typical of the crap floating around people's inboxes.


every once in awhile my parents forward me some EBS like this. They're intelligent people, but they aren't very math-savvy. Most of the time if you get an email like this & just sit down & do a little math you can realize it's bullshit.

I don't understand the strong negative reactions to this stuff. Snopes hardly repudiates the information, just nit-picks at details for the most part. So there are a few percentage points diffeence here and there, no big deal, and as Snopes points out, some of this stuff is very hard to pin down (especially the cultural stuff like race and religion).

The point of the list is to draw attention to disparity and extremes; i.e. - that half the population of the world does suffer from malnutrition, that wealth is extremely concentrated, and so on and so forth.

Such statements and what they might mean must be threatening to some people.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[hobbes4star 0]

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I don't understand the strong negative reactions to this stuff

It's ok that there was negative reatctions to this. That is why I posted it in speakers corner and not the BF.

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[MrBounce 0]

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From Phillip M Harter, MD, Stanford University, School of Medicine:
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, here's what you would have:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south)
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth, and
all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer."

1 would be a pilot
there would be 5 passengers
1 of whom would jump out wearing a rig

Gavin

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. If you don't take it out and use it, its going to rust.

[warpedskydiver 0]

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Quote

From Phillip M Harter, MD, Stanford University, School of Medicine:
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, here's what you would have:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south)
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth, and
all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer."

1 would be a pilot
there would be 5 passengers
1 of whom would jump out wearing a rig

and the other 99 would think that is crazy

2 would be young anarchists that are against everything and would still believe the rest think as they do

[SpeedRacer 1]

It seems the "statistics" were off by more than a few % points. Some of them were complete nonsense.

My negative reaction is to the lack of accuracy, not to its political meaning.

Even if someone is politically on the same side as me, I will call them on it if they say something that's bullshit, even if the bullshit supports my political leanings.

Bullshit is still bullshit, even if it comes from your side of the barnyard.

Speed Racer
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[rehmwa 2]

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I will call them on it if they say something that's bullshit, even if the bullshit supports my political leanings.

now that truly IS refreshing

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[hobbes4star 0]

didn't anyone ever tell you that everything on the internet is true???

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?