11 cut squares

In all honesty today's lecture was rather average, with nothing of strong interest to me.

One activity we did though was try to cut out 11 squares from a square. It was harder than I thought and I only got two solutions out of it.




Another topic was lying with statistics. I disagree with the methods of lying with statistics in class today though. They were all focused on manipulating the look of the graph to make certain stats look bigger/smaller through shape, scale, 3D vs. 2D, and use of colour.

These would make it LOOK bigger/smaller as you wish, but in my opinion it only takes a person of average intelligence with determination to find the information to know the real comparison between the stats. You could use as much manipulation of visual elements you want, but no matter what you do the numbers won't change and it will still be presented on the graph. Therefore lying with visuals is not reliable in terms of statistical interpretation.

A better way to lie with statistics is to manipulate the stats themselves. This is not to say that you change the values altogether. For example, one way is to select your sample group that is biased towards your desired results. Let's say I wanted to prove that people prefer heavy metal over pop music. I could use a biased selection of my sample group by only asking people at places that play heavy metal. Then I can say that I selected my sample group from various locations which play music. Only that I would conveniently neglect to say that it was locations that play heavy metal.

If somebody looks for information, it is best to manipulate the source of information rather than the visual representation of it.