Sermons and Statistics
I guess this post would more probably belong on a Sunday, but I was listening to a sermon on CD as I drove round today. A friend had lent it to me. And I was trying to work out how I could like the speaking style, the voice, and even the message, but still find myself so frustrated by the words that I wanted to switch off.
It was the logic I guess (or lack thereof) that annoyed me. Maybe it's just a hazard of studying math at college. I can never look a misused statistic in the eye (or hear it in the ear) without my hackles rising. And once those hackles have risen I'm ready to pounce.
Which makes me think how I need to be careful in my writing too, unless I want readers and reviewers pouncing down my throat. If I don't know something, I'd better not pretend, or someone's almost sure to find me out. The trick's to know when imagination strays into the realm of falsehood - just like when statistics stray into misconception.
It was the logic I guess (or lack thereof) that annoyed me. Maybe it's just a hazard of studying math at college. I can never look a misused statistic in the eye (or hear it in the ear) without my hackles rising. And once those hackles have risen I'm ready to pounce.
Which makes me think how I need to be careful in my writing too, unless I want readers and reviewers pouncing down my throat. If I don't know something, I'd better not pretend, or someone's almost sure to find me out. The trick's to know when imagination strays into the realm of falsehood - just like when statistics stray into misconception.
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Helen
Straight From Hel
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Elspeth