“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Anonymous, popularized by Mark Twain
We are on day 137 of 15 days to slow the spread.
There’s a scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when Kirk and companions are stranded on the planet. The Enterprise has been badly damaged and Kirk asks for a damage report.
Knowing that Khan is monitoring the communication, Spock responds, “Admiral, if we go ‘by the book’ like Lieutenant Saavik, hours could seem like days.”
Kirk understands this and knows that Spock means the repairs will be completed in just a few hours, not days.
I wish the 47 years of our house arrest could seem like hours.
But, can we really trust any numbers these days?
If you’ve followed me here for a while (and if you haven’t, why not?), you know that I’ve been fully in the camp of this is serious, but we’re overreacting. Is the cure worse than the disease?
Whether you agree with that or not you have to acknowledge that we’ve been manipulated.
In March we were told masks weren’t effective. Now we’re being told that if we all wear masks we can have a Labor Day/Back to School picnic.
We keep hearing about the rise in cases. But, what about the rise in recoveries? And the decrease in deaths?
And don’t get me started about the deaths attributed to COVID-19 that may or may not have been because of the virus.
When a 98-year-old man dies and tests positive for COVID-19, is that really what killed him?
What I’m saying is that there are a bunch of numbers out there and we’re not getting a full picture.
And, while it’s an entirely different post (that will be written by someone else), differing opinions on the virus are being censored.
I mean, I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but neither are the dweebs monitoring Twitter and Facebook.
On a side note, I’m not sure I’ve used the word “dweeb” since high school.
It’s not just the virus being manipulated.
Regardless of your opinion of Donald Trump or Joe Biden, I’m just not trusting the polls.
First of all, do not try to say to me with a straight face that you’re excited about voting for Joe Biden. Just be honest enough that you’re voting “anybody but Trump.”
If the polls are to believed at this point, Biden will win by a large margin.
I mean, after all, they nailed the landslides for Michael Dukakis and Hillary Clinton.
Statistics.
I don’t have a solution to all of this.
I know that, personally, I look at a lot of sources before coming to conclusions on any of these issues.
Too many of us are inclined to take the latest meme as fact.
Fess up, do you verify before you share?
I think, if we all really had the same set of facts, we wouldn’t be quite so polarized.
But we live in the Misinformation Age when anybody can have a website, or do a podcast.
So, it’s up to each of us to make sure that we’re getting the correct information.
We all have our preconceived ideas, so we tend to gravitate toward the sources that confirm that.
Don’t roll your eyes at me. I know the sites you follow and share.
Whether it’s a coded message because the enemy may be listening in, or whether it’s an intentional misdirection, do some research before you take it as fact.
Also, while we’re at it “Buy the Book.
Cover Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash