O/T. The Government's handling of Covid

[Geoff Parkstone]

Only you could turn a lesson in numeracy into a polemic on the Brexit vote! So following your lead......

Percentage changes in percentages are a bit tricky to get your head round. lets try it in a way closer to home

In a hypothetical poll 52% voted in a particular way. if 10% more had voted this way, would the vote in favour of the decision have been

(a) 62% or (b) 57.2% or (c) still less than half ?

You or I might think (a). MA would think (b). Swale would think (c)

[ramAnag]

Only you could turn a lesson in numeracy into a polemic on the Brexit vote! So following your lead......

Percentage changes in percentages are a bit tricky to get your head round. lets try it in a way closer to home

In a hypothetical poll 52% voted in a particular way. if 10% more had voted this way, would the vote in favour of the decision have been

(a) 62% or (b) 57.2% or (c) still less than half ?

You or I might think (a). MA would think (b). Swale would think (c)

Sorry...I didn’t actually mean to do that. I was really talking about democracy...especially where single issue complexities are involved.
Does it ever work? I suspect not.

In answer to your question...I’d have thought 62% but then worried about agreeing with you and probably copied off MA...which is, coincidentally, what I did in my General Studies ‘A’ level. There were two 3hr papers...one was all ‘arty farty waffle’ which you’ll be unsurprised to know I excelled at. The other was science, maths and languages, which I was seriously bad at. Fortunately my mate, who’s surname was fortuitously directly before mine so he sat immediately in front of me, was the exact reverse and he put his papers where I could see his answers.
The outcome...I passed...he failed and an initial life lesson was learned. I became a teacher...he became an accountant.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Sorry...I didn’t actually mean to do that. I was really talking about democracy...especially where single issue complexities are involved.
Does it ever work? I suspect not.

In answer to your question...I’d have thought 62% but then worried about agreeing with you and probably copied off MA...which is, coincidentally, what I did in my General Studies ‘A’ level. There were two 3hr papers...one was all ‘arty farty waffle’ which you’ll be unsurprised to know I excelled at. The other was science, maths and languages, which I was seriously bad at. Fortunately my mate, who’s surname was fortuitously directly before mine so he sat immediately in front of me, was the exact reverse and he put his papers where I could see his answers.
The outcome...I passed...he failed and an initial life lesson was learned. I became a teacher...he became an accountant.

I guess the moral of the story is that his failure drove his ambition and led him on to greater things

[ramAnag]

I guess the moral of the story is that his failure drove his ambition and led him on to greater things

I think there are two...he learned that doing something out of the kindness of his heart didn’t pay and just devoted his life to counting...oh...and never let me teach maths.

[Geoff Parkstone]

in fact the moral is that neither of us should teach maths - you cant count and I cant teach

[ramAnag]

in fact the moral is that neither of us should teach maths - you cant count and I cant teach

Tbf...I can count...I’m even, believe it or not, good with money and financial planning...it’s all the manipulating of figures...equations, more than basic percentages and angles etc that leave me baffled. As for algebra! Give me a break...not a clue!

[Trickytreesreds]

Only you could turn a lesson in numeracy into a polemic on the Brexit vote! So following your lead......

Percentage changes in percentages are a bit tricky to get your head round. lets try it in a way closer to home

In a hypothetical poll 52% voted in a particular way. if 10% more had voted this way, would the vote in favour of the decision have been

(a) 62% or (b) 57.2% or (c) still less than half ?

You or I might think (a). MA would think (b). Swale would think (c)

get that man a gold fish
classic