“I didn’t know he died.”
“I didn’t know he died either.”
“I thought he was already dead.”
“No, not him!”
“I thought she died a long time ago!”
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, Oscars, Academy Awards[/tags]
Archives for February 2007
The M in GMA
Posted on February 22, 2007 Written by
…does not stand for “mathematics.”
I was watching “Good Morning America” this morning, and heard two different math-related gaffes that made me scowl. Sadly, our habits as passive listeners mean that a great number of other mistakes might be sliding under our collective radar.
The first was a simple mis-reporting of a statistic. Chris Cuomo (designated newsreader) was reading an item about illegal immigration. Apparently, the latest statistics from the Border Patrol indicated that fewer people were crossing illegally into the United States. The proof, as read by Cuomo, was a stat indicating that the number of illegal immigrants caught was down 27-percent from last year. Pardon me for being a stick in the mud, but couldn’t that also be an indication of other things?
- Migrants are picking less-monitored locations?
- Border Patrol agents are lazier?
Just off the top of my head. There might be others.
The second math error involved probabilities… [Read more…]
Cabin Fever
Posted on February 21, 2007 Written by
Don’t worry — this won’t be a long post. In fact, I’m going to throw this out to the nearly dozen of you who read this to provide me your theory.
I had two flights today. The first leg was from Birmingham to Detroit, and the second from Detroit to DC. (Yes, I am aware of the inherent humor in that, but someone saved a few dollars.) [Read more…]
Venn and the Art of Entrepreneurism
Posted on February 20, 2007 Written by
- Inspiration (Dreamer)
- Focus (Robot)
- Risk (Fool)
- Inspiration + Focus = Racehorse
- Inspiration + Risk = Maverick
- Risk + Focus = Lumberjack
- Inspiration + Risk + Focus = Entrepreneur
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, Venn Diagrams, Set Theory, Business[/tags]
Invenntiveness
Posted on February 18, 2007 Written by
My own little corner of the Intertubes is supposed to be about explaining things, so why not get right down to explaining how to explain things?
Before we go any further, though, we have to get down to definitions. And trying to define ‘define’ can send you thinking in circles if you aren’t careful:
- Reference.com: to state or set forth the meaning of
- Merriam-Webster: to determine or identify the essential qualities or meaning of
- YourDictionary.com: To describe the nature or basic qualities of; explain
- Encarta (MSN): to state or describe something exactly
- theFreeDictionary.com: to state or describe something exactly
In comparing the above concepts, I think we can drill down to a couple of key points. ‘Defining’ something:
- is a conscious, willful act.
- is exact.
- captures essence.
Definitions are an important first step in just about any process. The vast majority of arguments (internet or otherwise) get ugly at the definition phase, and need go no further. If you can’t agree on terms, you can’t even agree to disagree. Yet somehow, most of our educational systems are geared more toward definition instead of cognition, or understanding. Maybe it’s just a function of easier testing, but too many people believe that learning begins and ends with the definitions.
So let me re-wire the way you think about definitions, with an analogy.
A definition is a circle… [Read more…]
Proof, er, Consequences
Posted on February 15, 2007 Written by
My Platonic Talk post drew some attention from some fellow media trainers and communicators. Apparently, I have not been alone in my assertion that “perfect speech” is not the road to perfect communication, but is in fact a hindrance. Backing that up, I have an anecdote from a study that I remembered reading years ago… and now I have other pros who would like the opportunity to cite it.
(Nothing like sticking it to the Toastmasters.)
I still have not found the original study, but apparently there is some other evidence out there backing up the concept: [Read more…]
Addition by Subtraction
Posted on February 13, 2007 Written by
“Social Media.” Oh boy. There’s a topic no one else is writing about.
Everybody and their mother is now a blogging expert. There are a few who have been at it for a while, and have built a nice readership. Then there are people like me, who tend to write about things that only I could care about, and since “blog monetization” and “site traffic trends” are two of the things I don’t care about, I tend to do my own thing.
I do have an insight to add to this whole miasma of theory and conjecture. Stats don’t tell the whole story about how one gets to the top of the blog heap. [Read more…]