http://crookedtimber.org/2004/09/14/go-figure/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:47:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://crookedtimber.org/2004/09/14/go-figure/comment-page-1/#comment-42447 lightning Tue, 14 Sep 2004 18:17:03 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2181#comment-42447 When I need something to get really annoyed about (as if I needed anything extra!) I tend to rant about the mingboggling innumerancy of the Great Idiot Public. Give most people a bunch of numbers and they turn into the intellectual equivalent of small potted plants. Big numbers are especially bad -- most people can't tell the difference between a million and a billion. This stuff gives a prime example. Hurricanes are *big*. For the olive oil example, I get about 800,000 metric tons of olive oil needed -- fuggetaboutit. When I need something to get really annoyed about (as if I needed anything extra!) I tend to rant about the mingboggling innumerancy of the Great Idiot Public. Give most people a bunch of numbers and they turn into the intellectual equivalent of small potted plants. Big numbers are especially bad—most people can’t tell the difference between a million and a billion. This stuff gives a prime example. Hurricanes are big. For the olive oil example, I get about 800,000 metric tons of olive oil needed—fuggetaboutit.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/09/14/go-figure/comment-page-1/#comment-42446 Shelly Rae Clift Tue, 14 Sep 2004 18:06:46 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2181#comment-42446 And I here I was thinking that folks were coming up with creative excuses to nuke Florida in an election year. Silly me. Anon. And I here I was thinking that folks were coming up with creative excuses to nuke Florida in an election year. Silly me. Anon.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/09/14/go-figure/comment-page-1/#comment-42445 Des von Bladet Tue, 14 Sep 2004 15:35:34 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2181#comment-42445 Nanny statiste killjoys, isn't it? Next they'll be saying that it's neither necessary nor appropriate to nuke the moon. I ask you! Nanny statiste killjoys, isn’t it? Next they’ll be saying that it’s neither necessary nor appropriate to nuke the moon. I ask you!

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/09/14/go-figure/comment-page-1/#comment-42444 Doug Tue, 14 Sep 2004 14:59:25 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2181#comment-42444 <a href="http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/000538.html">Comment redux</a>: Spoilsport! Any question that lets the weather geeks write sentences like “The heat release [in a hurricane] is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes.” or understatements like “To change a Category 5 hurricane into a Category 2 hurricane you would have to add about a half ton of air for each square meter inside the eye, or a total of a bit more than half a billion (500,000,000) tons for a 20 km radius eye. It’s difficult to envision a practical way of moving that much air around.” is a very good question indeed. Comment redux: Spoilsport! Any question that lets the weather geeks write sentences like “The heat release [in a hurricane] is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes.” or understatements like “To change a Category 5 hurricane into a Category 2 hurricane you would have to add about a half ton of air for each square meter inside the eye, or a total of a bit more than half a billion (500,000,000) tons for a 20 km radius eye. It’s difficult to envision a practical way of moving that much air around.” is a very good question indeed.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/09/14/go-figure/comment-page-1/#comment-42443 Peter Murphy Tue, 14 Sep 2004 11:35:23 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2181#comment-42443 Nice link, Belle. Apparently, olive oil kills hurricanes. So where's Exxon Valdez when you need it? Nice link, Belle. Apparently, olive oil kills hurricanes. So where’s Exxon Valdez when you need it?

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