logoalt Hacker News

miki123211today at 3:38 AM2 repliesview on HN

People don't know what variance is.

Most people have an intuitive understanding of what an average is, but "distance from the average" is mystifying to them.


Replies

fc417fc802today at 4:40 AM

Ok fine I hear you, in that case how about catastrophic climate chaos? It's even alliterative.

colechristensentoday at 3:52 AM

And if you're trying to sell the public on the numbers of what's concerning, those numbers should be able to communicate the changes they expect.

"This number is small but it means BAD THINGS" isn't a very good message