I received the following email today about this “amazing math trick”. The mathematically inclined should see the trick right away, but an explanation follows the puzzle. It is a pretty standard trick, and I find it interesting that many smart people seem memorized by this type of thing. I guess it’s like the easy [...]
Another silly email math trick
March 25th, 2008 · No Comments
Tags: General
Bad Science in Action - My Experience with a “Health Assessment”
September 26th, 2007 · No Comments
Every Columbus Day we close the doors to the Courthouse and conduct an “in-service” day. There is usually an overarching theme and this year it is all about health.
As part of this health theme, we were invited to take a web-based health assessment survey. The survey then provides results and recommendations based on your answers. [...]
Tags: General
Innumeracy rears its ugly head
April 19th, 2006 · No Comments
I just received an email on a listserv I’m on with one of those “amazing” math tricks. The instructions say to “get a calculator” cause “you can’t do this in your head”. Grrrrr.
Here’s the “magic trick” -
Start off with your phone number, say 867-5309.
Take the first three digits (867), multiply by 80.
Add [...]
Tags: General
