maths they are everywhere, in all its branches. But above all probability and statistics They constantly visit us in our daily life, sometimes we do not even realize it. It is for this reason that it is a branch that is studied in most professions, be it the so-called “sciences” or “writing”. The problem is that, unfortunately, they are not always studied properly, which makes it dangerous for most of us. exposed to uncertainty. Luckily, there’s a solution hidden in the pages How to deal with uncertaintyrecently published book of mathematics Anabel Forte next to the publisher Publishers next door.
In it with the help of a nearby conductive threadin which the family is faced with various everyday situations in which probability plays an important role, this statistic reveals the keys to being able to use this branch of mathematics in our daily lives without hesitation in trying.
And the fact is that if we learn to understand statistics and probability, we will become freer. For example, free don’t rely on charts that some politicians will start debating as if throwing down their weapons. Or understand that, although it seems that more vaccinated than unvaccinated people die from COVID-19, with the statistics on hand, the puncture will be much tastier for us.
Why should we all study probability and statistics?
The book contains a prologue to Seville mathematics. Clara Grim. This science popularizer breaks spears on statistics and probability, disciplines that are at the end of textbooks that are often not even studied. And this is a mistake, because they are extremely necessary in our daily life.
In fact, according to hypertext own Anabel ForteThis happens mainly for two reasons. On the one hand, stop being afraid of science and how it works. “Very strong influence. decisions that are made about what family of drugs you are going to take for this or that disease, how it is diagnosed or why you are prescribed this or that test, ”he says. “In mechanical engineering, too, the decision is made to use one type of device rather than another.”
On the other hand, it helps encourage critical thinking. “In the news, half the time there is a link in the headlines to an average, a percentage, or something like that,” recalls the author of this book on statistics and probability. “And then you will almost certainly find charts in the article.”
Understanding all these resources and being able to comment on whether they have indeed been used properly requires knowledge of statistics and probability. “If you know a little more about it, it will be easier for you to understand what they are telling you to criticize.” In short, according to Forte, it is about “understand the world around us and be less afraid of it“. That is, “understand how science is done, and then encourage critical thinking and the fact that we can look at things with different eyes.”
And the fact is that in order to have a critical spirit, you need not only philosophy. Also mathematics. who spoke about science or letters?
Beware of graphics in journalism
Throughout the book, a common thread is created in which the family encounters everyday situations in which need statistics. Forte tells us that he decided to do it in such a way that hook the reader. They do different things, among which, of course, the famous journalistic graphics. Very often you can find some errors in them that can go unnoticed. Therefore, there are some details that we must always take into account.
One side, must be some axes. That is, a vertical line and a horizontal line in which the represented values are marked. On the other hand, if it’s a bar, “first You gotta know what every bar is“. In addition, a vertical bar is required where they are marked. regularly scale values. “Imagine that you are measuring the percentage of approvals in different autonomous communities,” Forte cites an example. “You have to have some percentages that go from 0 to 100 regularly, and the distance from 0% to 10% is the same as from 10% to 20%.”
That way, she explains, we’ll get rid of those typical graphs where, for example, the bar looks larger than the one for the smaller value. But you must also see if it makes sense. For example, “if we talk about unemployment, maybe it doesn’t make sense to go from 0 to 5 million, but to talk about percentage.” And this is what, if not, what would we put into zero unemployment?
Also in epidemiology
In this way, we can avoid many misleading charts like the ones we saw during the pandemic, for example. And that’s what’s really in epidemiological problems statistics and probability play a vital role. The author of the book explains this with a simple joke.
“There was a very good joke: I was told that 20% of people die from smoking. Why do the other 80% die? Why not smoke? So I’ll smoke.”
Anabel Forte, mathematician and statistician
We can easily see that this does not make sense. However, in certain cases they may sneak similar problems and that we do not consider them obvious. That’s why it’s so important learn about statistics and probability. And that is why Anabel Forte’s book is so necessary. These are just a few strokes of how much we can find inside.
Source: Hiper Textual
