lies, damned lies and...

drbill

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Dec 3, 2005
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...statistics, a subject many of us (86.4%) just don't like much.

Once again, I've come across an interesting news item announcing that such-and-such plan will likely reduce the cost of a product by between 60 and 300 per cent.

I understand things like funny long-division signs and "how much is a billion", even eurostyle decimal points in place of commas... but this thing can't be just some convenient cultural construct... can it?
 

drbill

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Dec 3, 2005
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like the one-dollar potato

The potato normally sells for $1.00, but with today's 60% discount, I pay only $.40 . So far, so good, eh?

If a 90% discount were applied, the potato would cost me only $.10, right?

100% discount really equals Free Potato.

125% discount means you get the potato, plus a quarter!

With 300% savings on the price of potatoes, you would simply walk out with THREE FREE POTATOES, n'est-ce pas?

Not even government officials can do this, can they?

A really professional journalist would run those numbers on his/her own calculator, phone up the old math teacher and say, "what the heck"?!
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Perfect Clown Bin material Doctor

Try yucca instead of potatoes next time you want this to be related to Dominican living.
 

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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Hoy Digital

I'm no mathematician but if the drugs used previously were imported and overpriced, then I could envisage a theoretical reduction (although maybe not 300%) by using generics, made in DR and subsidised by Public Health Ministry.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Interesting. How can something be 300% less? Less than what?

Hummm. Let's see.....PROMESE... Hummm...if Insulin was selling for $120.00 in a "normal' pharmacy, and was sold for $30 pesos in one of the PROMESE farmacies, would that constitute a 300% savings>?

Interesting point...

HB
 

drbill

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Dec 3, 2005
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exactly

As in: savings of 90 equals 3/4 of 120, or 75%.

I think/hope/pray that my math is OK; it's that the Sec. of Public Health is the source of the quote, which was published in such a respected paper as HOY.

Of course, I don't eat "yucca".
 

johne

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Jun 28, 2003
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I'll bite intothis lunacy...

"Did you ever pick your nose in Philadelphia" ( ? )
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Well, you gotta remember that our exaulted leaders (DR politicians) are certainly not math whizzes...

Police Chief said that violent crime was down 99%......yeah right, the same week there were like 5 murders in town.....

Does that mean that in "normal times" we have 500 murders a week???? Oh my!!

HB...loves yucca.....
 

drbill

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Dec 3, 2005
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Yumpin' Yiminy!!

John, you know that info. is classified.

Any lunacy is inadvertent, though.

Not really funny, either, when you think about it.

HB, I can see it with a local police chief... a medical doctor, though?
 

drbill

New member
Dec 3, 2005
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OkeeDokee-

Let's try this...

A condo building can certainly be half-empty of even 80% empty; it just cannot be 125% empty.

Right?

I hope this is only boring, not controversial.

Good Night
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Simple "Fuzzy Math"

It's called "Reverse-Pyschology"....

If the reduced price is $30 and the regular price is $120
... then by paying the $30 you are thus saving 300%, (30+30+30)
...... using the reduced price as the 100% price.

Thus if last week there were 2 murders, and this week there was only one, then the murder rate for this week, using this week as 100%, is down 100%.

;) What could be simpler? ;)
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
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Simple but inaccurate. I think that Bill is right, '3 times as cheap' =/ '300% discount'. And by the way, I suck at math.

A propos of nothing, every time I read 'el aniversario cicuenta' I want to go strangle the reporter/tv dude. It is 'el quincuagésimo aniversario (or appropriate ordinal)' o 'el aniversario número cincuenta'. I have quite a few reporters in my black list. It seems that you don't really need to be literate to be a reporter.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Simple but inaccurate. I think that Bill is right, '3 times as cheap' =/ '300% discount'. And by the way, I suck at math.

By paying $30 instead of $120, I am saving 300% based on the price I am paying,
If the price was $60 and I paid $30, I save 100%,
$30 vs $90 I save 200%
and $30 vs $120 I thus save 300%.

drbill: A condo building can certainly be half-empty of even 80% empty; it just cannot be 125% empty.

If the condo had 9 habitats, and 4 were occupied, then that would leave 5 of the 9 empty, using the "Fuzzy Math", that would equate to 125% empty, based on the assumption that 4 of the habitats are 100% occuppied, then 5 being empty is 125% empty......
 

miguel

I didn't last long...
Jul 2, 2003
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De verdad?.

If the price was $60 and I paid $30, I save 100%

$30 vs $90 I save 200%
Are you guys telling me my "Wiz In Math" degree has no value?. Man, I will have to throw it away. Lol.

When a person saves 100% it means that said person will get whatever he/she bought for FREE.

If the price is 60 and you pay 30, you have saved 50%. You paid 1/2 of price.

If the price is 90 and you pay 30, you have saved 75%. You paid 1/3 of price. And so on....
 
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SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Are you guys telling me my "Wiz In Math" degree has no value?. Man, I will have to throw it away. Lol.

You forgot one major thing miguel, this is the Dominican Republic, since when do we use "normal" logic here?

Again: If I paid $30 on something that should have cost me $60,
then it is only logical that if I paid $30, I saved $30, RIGHT?

Therefore, is $30 saved not 100% percent of the $30 I spendt?

See, 100% savings....... lol :confused: Think outside the box! ;)

PS: I once programmed for the F.D.I.C, even worse I programmed once for an Insurance Company and I added a personal disclaimer to the comments in the program.

There is normal math and then there is government math, never the two shall meet.
 
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miguel

I didn't last long...
Jul 2, 2003
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Ok!.

You forgot one major thing miguel, this is the Dominican Republic, since when do we use "normal" logic here?

Again: If I paid $30 on something that should have cost me $60,
then it is only logical that if I paid $30, I saved $30, RIGHT?

Therefore, is $30 saved not 100% percent of the $30 I spendt?

See, 100% savings....... lol :confused: Think outside the box! ;)

PS: I once programmed for the F.D.I.C, even worse I programmed once for an Insurance Company and I added a personal disclaimer to the comments in the program.

There is normal math and then there is government math, never the two shall meet.
Whenever you own a business and are running a 100% savings, let me know. I will buy truck-load of whatever you are selling.

The good thing is that no money will exchange hands!!. The "normal person's" math says so. Lol. What a bargain!.

YAWN!!!!.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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DR Logic - Yes!

If the price is 90 and you pay 30, you have saved 75%.
Looks like you may have spendt too much time in the DR miguel. You are starting to use DR logic. $90, and paying $30 in "normal" math is 66 2/3% savings, not 75%. By the end of the year perhaps we will have you totally converted to DR logic. lol

I hope you understand all this is spoken in jest.....