Ludicrous Precision: Difference between revisions

Line 15:

See also [[Mouthful of Pi]] and [[Good With Numbers]]. Often used by characters like the [[Clock King]]. Sounds like, but is (usually) unrelated to, [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]. [[And Ninety Nine Cents]] is a trope that plays with this one.

== Anime & Manga ==

Line 110:

* Journalists are very prone to treating opinion polls as more precise than they really are. The time before any election will see many such cases. For example, if one particular poll suggests candidate A has 43% support while candidate B has 41%, many newspapers will quickly conclude that A is leading. This ignores the fact that even the most scientific polls will often have a 3% margin of error. [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/fakeprec.html See] [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive042010.html#04242010 the] [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive042010.html#04072010 Fallacy] [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive122009.html#12092009 Files] [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive092009.html#09302009 for] [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive072008.html#07122008 several] [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive062008.html#06262008 examples]. A more in-depth view of the phenomenon can be found [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/readpoll.html here].

* And not understanding notions of margin of error and significant digits generally. Expect 3000 K to become precisely 5923.4 °F.

* If there's a chart, [[Viewers ~~Are~~ Morons|it won't have error bars]]. Ever.

* If there's a chart, [[Viewers are Morons|it won't have error bars]]. Ever.

* The ''Daily Mail'' (the British newspaper which caters for the tinfoil-hat brigade) once ran an anti-SI-units article claiming that Britain would soon have to face "31¼" MPH speed limits. Apart from the error of assuming that the rule-of-thumb conversion (8 kilometres ''approximately'' equals 5 miles) is an exact one (the correct conversion of 50km, to the same four significant figures, is nearer 31.09 miles than the stated 31.25), they also failed to realise (or willfully ignored) the fact that the percentage difference between 30 and 31.25, let alone that between 30 and 31.09, is well within the tolerance of mechanical speedometers. Plus there's the fact that if they'd used the other rule-of-thumb conversion (5 km approximately equals 3 miles), the whole basis for the silly article would have disappeared.

Line 135:

** And in the case of temperature: "Regice cloaks itself with frigid air of negative 328 degrees Fahrenheit." In Japan, it's -200 degrees Celsius.

* In ''Spirited Heart'', when demon [[Child Prodigy]] Hade gets selected to become a scientist at the King's Royal Laboratory, one of the teachers notes that she is at least forty years younger than the previous youngest researcher. She corrects the teacher by saying that she's the youngest by exactly "Forty-seven years, six months, and two weeks".

* Fi, the local [[Exposition Fairy]] of ''[[The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'', loves to throw out [[If My Calculations Are Correct|percentages]] any time a possibility arises. Though the numbers are a lot broader than other examples on this page, always a multiple of 5, she still gives them in uncertain situations when such probabilities should be incalculable. As with [[Million to One Chance|most examples of this]], the suggested possibility is ''always'' the case, even though Fi gives probabilities ranging from 40% to 95% (never 100%). Apparently she's not very confident, even though she's always right.

* Fi, the local [[Exposition Fairy]] of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'', loves to throw out [[If My Calculations Are Correct|percentages]] any time a possibility arises. Though the numbers are a lot broader than other examples on this page, always a multiple of 5, she still gives them in uncertain situations when such probabilities should be incalculable. As with [[Million-to-One Chance|most examples of this]], the suggested possibility is ''always'' the case, even though Fi gives probabilities ranging from 40% to 95% (never 100%). Apparently she's not very confident, even though she's always right.

* ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]''

** Sho Minamimoto. Seriously, the incantation he uses for his ultimate attack is reciting 156 digits of pi, rightfully earning him, at least at time of writing, the page image for [[Mouthful of Pi]].

Line 163:

{{quote| '''Daggett:''' A bug... two bugs... four bugs... ''(explodes out through the floor)'' AAAAH! 4023 BUGS!}}

* Ron in ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]'' goes through an entire episode like this, despite not being the brainy one... he just took a big interest in his dad's work (Mr. Stoppable is an actuary).

* In the ''[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "Fall Weather Friends", Pinkie Pie is commentating on the Running of the Leaves, and at one point she tries to figure out exactly how far ahead of Applejack Rainbow Dash is:

* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "Fall Weather Friends", Pinkie Pie is commentating on the Running of the Leaves, and at one point she tries to figure out exactly how far ahead of Applejack Rainbow Dash is:

{{quote| '''Pinkie Pie:''' She's ahead by half a nose! Or maybe three-quarters of a nose! No, about 63.7% of a nose! ''(sees Spike staring at her)'' ...Roughly speaking.}}

* The ''Star Trek TOS'' example above is spoofed in ''[[Muppet Babies]]'', where Gonzo (as Spock) takes so long to say the fractions on the odds that he has to be cut off by someone.