xkcd

11961 readers

42 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

307

xkcd #3104: Tukey (imgs.xkcd.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

xkcd #3104: Tukey

Title text:

Numbers can be tricky. On the day of my 110th birthday, I'll be one day younger than John Tukey was on his.

Transcript:

[Text formatted as a block quote]

"Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise."

John W. Tukey
The Future of Data Analysis (1962)

Caption below the comic:
Happy approximate birthday to John Tukey, author of my favorite statistics quote, who was born 110.000 years ago sometime this week.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3104/

explainxkcd for #3104

top 9 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 53 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

This reminds me of Charles Babbage's response to being asked if his computer would give the right answer if the wrong numbers were entered:

I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.

I've been tempted to drop this line in meetings more than once.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 weeks ago

hehe

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Right in line with a certain movie quote that ends with, "I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Oh I keep this one memorized.

[Mr. Madison,] What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

I've successfully used this twice in DnD and once in real life.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Is this a coherent thought? (Actual question)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Are you confused about the older language in the quote? It could be rewritten as:

I cannot even comprehend the kind of misunderstanding that could cause you to ask that question.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Huh, that kind of gets the juices going, and I'm wondering how much we've been trying to make our problems fit the technologies we've built, rather than the other way around.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

traffic/DUIs (need cars)

poverty/homelessness (need more)

recidivism (need slaves)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

To some with only hammers in reach, every problem seems to be a nail.