When Numbers Don’t Add Up

Ideally we want to base our beliefs, decisions and actions on evidence. But statistical evidence can be full of nuance and therefore hard to steer by. Questions of percentage, preponderance, significance, standard deviations, orders of magnitude are only a few of the complications we may need to account for in our reckoning. And as this BBC report spells out — “clever people get stupider when they let their opinions get in the way” — the opinions we hold dear can tip us towards denial and blindness.

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moreorless

Program Name: WS MoreOrLess Does politics make us get our sums wrong?

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