Thursday, November 19, 2009

How Do “They” Know That?

We are constantly being barraged by “them” & their numbers. Who are “them”? Are “them” related to “they”?

What the heck am I talking about? I’m not sure. Hold on a moment and I will collect myself (whatever that means) and I’ll be back with you in a bit.

Pause … Pause … Pause

OK, I remembered what sent me into this tirade. I have been told by my radio that the following is fact…
In The Last Year 82,000,000 Americans Contemplated Suicide
I ask you, How Do “They” Know That?

“They” would probably give me the standard response, “Researchers” told us.

Who are Researchers? Are Researchers in any way related to “them” and “they”?

Did “they” ask 82,000,000 people if they had contemplated suicide?

Ok, I know what “they” did. “They” asked a smaller number and extrapolated that smaller number into a larger number…
• If “they” asked 39 people and 10 said they had contemplated suicide, this would be 25.625%.
• There are about 320,000,000 people in the country at this time.
• 320,000,000 times 25.625% equals 82,000,000 suicide contemplating people.
That’s it! That is how “they” got to their number. I should have known that “they” would not give us a bum steer (whatever that means).

If this satisfies your curiosity, you can consider the matter closed and I encourage you to go do something constructive with your time.

IF YOU ARE NOT A FOOTBALL TV WATCHER, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND, OR CARE, WHAT THE SMARTFELLA? IS TALKING ABOUT (I hope this is a first time you have not cared what the Smartfella? is talking about).

The other factor that must be taken into consideration is what universe of people “they” canvased with their suicide question. If “they” had asked New England Patriots football fans within an hour of the end of the Patriots game with the Colts last Sunday, “they” very well might have gotten 25.625% of them to say they had contemplated suicide within the last year (actually within the last hour).

What happened Sunday was the renounced, highly praised and never-makes-a-mistake coach of the Patriots, Bill Belichick, had just ended the titanic struggle by making one of the worst decisions in the entire history of football (pee wee, grammar school, flag, touch, YMCA, high school, college and professional). With only seconds more than two minutes left in the game and his team ahead by six points, Coach Belichick had called for his team to go for a first down on fourth down on their own 28 yard line. He forsook punting the ball and having the Colts start their possession somewhere around 60 to 70 yards away from the Patriot’s goal line. Belichick’s team did not make the first down by a football length. That gave one of the best offensive teams in football today, with maybe the best quarterback in the history of the game, a first down inside Belichick’s 30 yard line with 1:57 left on the clock. Four plays later with 13 seconds left in the game the Colts scored a touchdown and Belichick’s Patriots lost by 1 point.

The Smartfella? thinks that 25.625% was probably a low number of Patriot fans who were contemplating suicide in the aftermath of that bit of football stupidity. He also thinks that the wrong question might have been posed to the distraught fans. If “they” had asked, “Have you ever contemplated murder in the last year?”, they very likely would have come up with a much higher percentage.

Would I kid u?