Nice one Lee. A couple of thoughts occur to me.

First measurement and numbers are important because they provide a BALANCE to intuition/gut-feel/guesswork. We need both.

Secondly if I understand your point correctly, numbers on their own might be ineffective. Visual presentation, such as in a bar chart or line graph, both begin to help analysis that can lead to action, which is the purpose of data.

I might interpret the data presented in the video to suggest that change is accelerating. However if I do not use this information as the basis for action it is just entertainment.

Al the best

Alan

Both are fascinating. Both of them speak to my own deep-seated fascination with our planet but simply because one is a flashy powerpoint presentation …

There was a question on a past exam which went something like this.
106 points are scored in a basketball game
the game lasts for 80 minutes
find the probability density function of the time between two pointsIn the question there was nothing about exponential distributions, and to me it made sense to use a constant rectangular pdf because the probability of scoring a point at a time should be independent of any other time. I know there are other factors in basketball but ignore that.The answer in the solutions was an exponential pdf, and because there was nothing in the question to suggest that the solution should have been an exponential pdf, im assuming theres a good reason why its exponential.

Benches and Storage

The exponential distribution is used to model Poisson processes, which are situations in which an object initially in state A can change to state B with constant probability per unit time λ. The time at which the state actually changes is described by an exponential random variable with parameter λ. Therefore, the integral from 0 to T over f is the probability that the object is in state B at time T.
As rip_rt says, Poisson may be used , but it is related to exponential distribution.Number of scores depends on how much time is left and opponent’s score in an NBA game. More points may be attempted as the time gets shorter whether they were scored or not.

I might interpret the data presented in the video to suggest that change is accelerating.

It doubles every hour. Start with 200, then 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400 after 5 hours. So keep going - 12800, 25600, 51200, 102400, and 204800 after 10 hours. That’s what “exponential” growth means - multiplying by the same factor in each unit of time.

I know there are other factors in basketball but ignore that.The answer in the solutions was an exponential pdf,and because there was nothing in the question to suggest that the solution should have been an exponential pdf, im assuming theres a good reason why its exponential.

One is a flashy powerpoint presentation set to music and the other is text i only forwarded one of them on to friends.

Wow, I wished I had found your blog a few years ago. This is a battle I have been having for most of my life….I’m going to go grab a cup of tea and continue reading some more…

Really fascinating post. mind blowing thought. thanks for sharing.

interesting and fascinating. I enjoyed watching the video. Thanks for posting it.