Last month we discussed the importance of understanding the details in the data quoting Twain, “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics” … we noted that it’s not the data that lies, but those who manipulate it. This month we’re going to piggyback off a few of our more recent notes for as the data…
“Der Teufel steckt im Detail” While nearly impossible to pinpoint with 100% accuracy its origin, historians suggest it was the controversial German philosopher and poet Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 – 1900) who uttered the above phrase in the late 1880’s … most likely a variation of French novelist, Gustave Flaubert’s (1821 – 1880), “Le bon Dieu est dans le…
Addicere… The above word may look familiar to you, not because you know it’s meaning, but the meaning of the word that’s derived from it?! ‘Addicere’ is Latin for “enslaved” or “bound to” … foundationally, it is root of the word, ‘addiction’. Merriam-Webster defines the word, ‘addicted’ the following way: “exhibiting a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for…
We began our 3Q2022 note off with an Aesop fable … “The ass &his driver”. To my surprise, some readers were unfamiliar with both Aesop and this particular “fable”. Though, as we noted then: “The beauty in these fictional tales resides in their elegant simplicity.” Given the “disconnect” between current economic conditions as defined by THE DATA vs. recent…
“The ancient Egyptians understood time as a series of repetitive cycles, instead of something linear” ~Joobin Bekhrad, December 4, 2017 Ouroboros … … is commonly defined as: “a circular symbol depicting a snake, or less commonly a dragon, swallowing its tail, as an emblem of wholeness or infinity.” While the first known ouroboros was found on a “golden shrine” in the Egyptian tomb of King…
“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” The Lorax by Dr. Seuss UNLESS Each year at my children’s school, the older kids participate in a “poetry teahouse” where students choose a poem, commits it to memory and recites it while standing before peers, teachers, and parents alike. While the…
Spring is coming … it’s not what you think! As we publish, we’re less than a month away from my favorite season of the year, Spring! Especially here in North Carolina! When we moved to Raleigh nearly 11 years ago, one of the very first things I noticed while driving the highways were the meticulously manicured on/off ramps; what…
It’s all over but the shouting It’s meaning is universally understood, while its origin is often disputed. The idiom, “it’s all over but the shouting” refers to a certain event, decision, or situation, that are still in progress, but the outcome is as near certain as it gets. The “shouting” can be two-fold, either celebration or public outcry following…
“A turkey is fed for a thousand days by a butcher; every day confirms to its staff of analysts that butchers love turkeys ‘with increased statistical confidence’ … The butcher will keep feeding the turkey until a few days before Thanksgiving … Then comes that day when it is really not a very good idea to be a turkey.”…
Autostereogram Some of you may be wondering what an autostereogram is … other’s may, in fact know exactly what they are or simply know them by brand name for “Magic Eye” books became very popular in the 1990’s, selling in excess of 25 million copies globally in multiple languages. Either way, there is a high probability a majority of…
