What would be some fact that, while true, could be told in a context or way that is misinfomating or make the other person draw incorrect conclusions?
What would be some fact that, while true, could be told in a context or way that is misinfomating or make the other person draw incorrect conclusions?
People use to say that you cant lie with statistics, but is a common practice to use statistics to lie.
We can take the infamous 41% suicide rate for trans people. Transphobes throw that out like a killing move implying that trans people are inherently unhappy and being trans is a mental illness (which is not true).
The reality is that the suicide rate is so high because of transphobia, kids getting thrown out of home, homelessness, unable to find a job, staying at the closet to avoid social consecuences, etc.
Trans people who live in more open and accepting environments are way less likely to be depressed and commit suicide. In progresive areas where trans people are more accepted the suicide rate is nowhere near 41%.
Yeah that statistic is brutal. Like I wish more people understood it’s like saying: “we bully the shit out of people who seem depressed, we aggressively stigmatize antidepressant use, X% of people with depression will attempt suicide at some point in their lives. We should ban antidepressants and treat depressed people worse.”
Its so frustrating when I see other minorities use that argument because their suicide statistics are also typically higher! That’s the nature of oppression.
Man, I can’t believe we live at a time where being trans is more dangerous than having cancer…
“Numbers don’t lie” is true in the same sense as “guns don’t kill”…
Numbers don’t lie, but people lie using number all the time.
Hey vis4valentine, you should correct “wish” to “which” in your comment. That typo could cause readers to understand the sentence completely inverted.
It depends on how you define “lie” really. A true stat is always true, but a person can draw misleading conclusions from it if they aren’t trained and especially if they also are looking for a certain conclusion.
I learned that stats is all about lies lol