Episode 68 — Erin Gibson, Our Close Friend

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

 

I think the statistic to look for would be deaths per use or death per 100,000 uses rather than just sheer number of deaths considering the number of uses of hand grenades or number of people caught in a hurricane is probably much smaller than the number of times beer has been consumed. I don't know for sure though. My guess would be that hand grenades are more likely to kill someone when used than beer when it is consumed disregarding all other factors. Again, I don't know, I haven't researched this in depth, but something tells me that, all things being equal, the thing specifically designed and engineered to kill people probably kills people more often (per use) than the thing that is legal to consume and is readily available in most communities across the globe (with some restrictions obviously [but, and I'm making an assumption here because I'm not familiar with the applicable rules and laws around the world on this subject, far fewer than the restrictions put on the purchase of hand grenades by the general public]).

 

I suppose it's all about how you measure something though. But I would argue that it's (nearly) completely irrelevant how many times something has happened in the aggregate if the likelihood of the thing occurring is incredibly small. I mean, the number of people who have choked to death on a Ritz Cracker is probably rather large but it's not exactly a major concern for me.

 

Statistics is fun, guys.

 

Ahem. "Statistics ARE fun."

 

Edit: In the case of beers and hand grenades, which are both countable objects*, trying to compare the deadliness of the object is a different thing from comparing the deadliness of using the object. I think it is valid to consider all of the grenades that have been produced but never used, which would weigh downward the deadliness of the hand grenade as a deadly item. The same thing is true for beer. Also, would you say that taking a sip of beer constitutes "using it" or do you have to finish it? Because I know lots of people who don't always finish an entire beer, but it is very hard to only partially use a hand grenade.

 

People say that mosquitoes are the deadliest animal which is certainly true based on the raw number of people they have killed. But by the approach you're espousing, the death rate per mosquito is miniscule because there are so fricken' many of them out there. In fact hippos would probably be more deadly because the number of people killed per hippo is high (they kill hundreds of people and hippos are themselves not very numerous). So lets all go get hippo vaccines!

 

Edit: *Beer, the liquid, is not a countable object, and perhaps that is the answer we need. Treat beer consumed as a continuous variable, accounting for sips, unfinished beers, and beers consumed in units other than a can or bottle. Hand grenade uses can be analyzed as a discrete variable.

[honlads 8798]

 

Ahem. "Statistics ARE fun."

 

Statistics is the analysis of numerical data. Statistics are the results of this analysis.

[chanson 9697]

 

Ahem. "Statistics ARE fun."

 

No, the topic of statistics (which is a singular) IS fun.

 

Statistics (multiple standalone things) ARE fun.

 

I was saying the first one. But either could be right depending on interpretation of what I was trying to say.

[brandondryrock 415]

 

Ahem. "Statistics ARE fun."

 

Statistics WERE fun. They isn't fun anymore.

[chanson 9697]

Grammar is fun, guys.

[honlads 8798]

Grammar is fun, guys.

 

Ahem, "Grammar is fungi."

[brandondryrock 415]

Grammar is fun, guys.

 

What is the funest?

[alargebucket 1589]

Kelsey Grammer is a fungi.

[chanson 9697]

Kelsey Grammer is a fungi.

 

Because he was on Frasier (Seattle) and likes to do shrooms (Seattle)?

[dixon 5920]

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

Grammar is fun, guys.

Grammars ARE fun. Guys.

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

Hahah! So sick.

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

 

Statistics is the analysis of numerical data. Statistics are the results of this analysis.

Statistics ARE the analyses of numerical datums. Statistics AM the results of these analyses.

 

 

No, the topic of statistics (which is a singular) IS fun.

 

Statistics (multiple standalone things) ARE fun.

 

I was saying the first one. But either could be right depending on interpretation of what I was trying to say.

Also, either could be wrong depending on my interpretation of what you were trying to say. Caught! (Nice one, me. Thanks.)

[chanson 9697]

 

Ahem. "Statistics ARE fun."

 

Edit: In the case of beers and hand grenades, which are both countable objects*, trying to compare the deadliness of the object is a different thing from comparing the deadliness of using the object. I think it is valid to consider all of the grenades that have been produced but never used, which would weigh downward the deadliness of the hand grenade as a deadly item. The same thing is true for beer. Also, would you say that taking a sip of beer constitutes "using it" or do you have to finish it? Because I know lots of people who don't always finish an entire beer, but it is very hard to only partially use a hand grenade.

 

People say that mosquitoes are the deadliest animal which is certainly true based on the raw number of people they have killed. But by the approach you're espousing, the death rate per mosquito is miniscule because there are so fricken' many of them out there. In fact hippos would probably be more deadly because the number of people killed per hippo is high (they kill hundreds of people and hippos are themselves not very numerous). So lets all go get hippo vaccines!

 

Edit: *Beer, the liquid, is not a countable object, and perhaps that is the answer we need. Treat beer consumed as a continuous variable, accounting for sips, unfinished beers, and beers consumed in units other than a can or bottle. Hand grenade uses can be analyzed as a discrete variable.

 

Beer is produced in a particular unit just like hand grenades so they are analyzable. Also, one has a choice about how much of the beer they can use but not so about the hand grenade. I think that factors in to the deadliness of the product. Consumption is usually a measure of the purchase of such a unit. One could measure beer in liters, cans, or pints. You could look at how much of it is consumed by the person or purchased at a store either way the number of deaths per can purchased or per liter drank would still be lower than that of the smallest unit of hand grenade purchasable which is a hand grenade. They may have different levels of explosive within them just like beer has different levels of alcohol in it but including all beers available for sale and all hand grenades available for sale, I feel comfortable assuming that in the aggregate more people die per hand grenade used or purchased than unit of beer.

 

Also, yes hippos are dangerous, which is why you aren't allowed anywhere near a hippo but you are allowed to be within close proximity to mosquitoes. Sometimes they get so close that they suck your blood in order to reproduce. The bastards. I would go as far as to say that I've been bitten by well over 100 mosquitoes (very conservative estimate [Edit: because I'm actually a badass outdoorsman]) and have yet to be maimed or killed by such an event. But literally every single time I've encountered a hippo there was a very large fence, which I'm assuming was for my protection. If the mosquito was the more dangerous thing to my health I would think such a device would be necessary to keep it away from me. The likelihood of the hippo killing you is far higher. You just aren't as likely to encounter one. That doesn't make it less dangerous, that makes it less dangerous relative to your likelihood of encountering one. But the world doesn't revolve around you and these statistics are for everyone, not just you. And it's up to your local public health department as to what you should and should not be vaccinated against but I don't think the danger in hippos is the disease they have the potential to carry (though that probably is a risk to someone somewhere) I think it's that they will crush you (Edit: or drown you), which is something science has yet to produce a vaccine against... Bruce? Freja? Why aren't you working on this????

[gototimsvlogdotnet 2886]

Legitimately want to drive down to LA for that live show... Any of the "Best Friend Crew" (which is another nickname I just made up for the formerly known "Three Musketeers") would come along?? It's a Tuesday night, so it'd require taking two days off work.

 

Also, can everyone please go look at the picture Sean just put on FB? It's a picture from the Paris trip, which has my favorite RSS/HH moment of all time (his teacher's wife). It's like I'm looking into history!

 

EDIT: If I was shameless about encroaching on Sean's actual private FB, I would comment something like "Did Mrs. (I would listen to the story and get her name) take the pic?", but I have too much respect.

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

I agree that these deadliness metrics (metrices?) need to be calibrated by locality, and possibly also by behavioral risk factors. If I were a teetotalling hippo trainer in Wisconsin, I would be fairly safe from mosquito-borne (deadly) diseases, hurricanes, and death from consumption of beer, and possibly also from hand grenades. Whereas if I were an alcoholic hippo trainer in sub-saharan Africa, I would be at significantly higher risk of dying from all of those things except hurricanes. (In the case of hippos, my job-based risk would be identical, but would have to be added to the higher baseline risk of encountering a wild hippo.) So if I am interpreting this thread of conversation correctly, we should all move to Wisconsin, quit drinking beer, and become hippo trainers.

[Casaba 5942]

Legitimately want to drive down to LA for that live show... Any of the "Best Friend Crew" (which is another nickname I just made up for the formerly known "Three Musketeers") would come along?? It's a Tuesday night, so it'd require taking two days off work.

 

Also, can everyone please go look at the picture Sean just put on FB? It's a picture from the Paris trip, which has my favorite RSS/HH moment of all time (his teacher's wife). It's like I'm looking into history!

 

EDIT: If I was shameless about encroaching on Sean's actual private FB, I would comment something like "Did Mrs. (I would listen to the story and get her name) take the pic?", but I have too much respect.

 

I'm in, Tim. Road trip!!

 

I saw that photo and thoroughly enjoyed the berets. But that story still makes me so sad. But then I think of the Workaholics episode based off of that story and loff.

 

PS - BFC 4 lyfe!

[chanson 9697]

I agree that these deadliness metrics (metrices?) need to be calibrated by locality, and possibly also by behavioral risk factors. If I were a teetotalling hippo trainer in Wisconsin, I would be fairly safe from mosquito-borne (deadly) diseases, hurricanes, and death from consumption of beer, and possibly also from hand grenades. Whereas if I were an alcoholic hippo trainer in sub-saharan Africa, I would be at significantly higher risk of dying from all of those things except hurricanes. (In the case of hippos, my job-based risk would be identical, but would have to be added to the higher baseline risk of encountering a wild hippo.) So if I am interpreting this thread of conversation correctly, we should all move to Wisconsin, quit drinking beer, and become hippo trainers.

 

And this is why different people pay different rates for insurance.

 

Economics is fun, guys.

 

Edit: Trained hippos are still incredibly dangerous and I think the cost of insurance for such a job would be prohibitively high for the general public, so unless you have tons of money or work for an accredited zoological institution with relatively deep pockets this probably isn't an option.

[honlads 8798]

We need to get to the bottom of this hippo beer thing.

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

 

And this is why different people pay different rates for insurance.

 

Economics is fun, guys.

 

Oh you! You're trying to get me wound up again, but I'm not going to fall for it.

 

(OK seriously, I wasn't going to say anything but I have several good friends who are actuaries, and they'd be pretty pissed to hear their jobs described as "economics.")

[chanson 9697]

 

Oh you! You're trying to get me wound up again, but I'm not going to fall for it.

 

(OK seriously, I wasn't going to say anything but I have several good friends who are actuaries, and they'd be pretty pissed to hear their jobs described as "economics.")

 

Why? Because it's actually pseudoscientific snake-oil sales and calling it economics is over-dignifying it?

 

Edit: I genuinely enjoy the pedantry of these kinds of conversations... Because I have problems with my brain.

 

Psychology is fun, guys.

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

 

Why because it's actually pseudoscientific snake-oil sales and calling it economics is over-dignifying it?

 

Edit: I genuinely enjoy the pedantry of these kinds of conversations... Because I have problems with my brain.

Well, probably. If I'm being honest, it's just one friend, and he quit being an actuary because he hated it.

Edit: AFTER he made an everloving fuck-ton of dollars.

 

Edit:I think you mean to say "the pageantry of these kinds of conversations."

 

Edit: Some people call me Mister Pedantic. I think of myself as Mister Didactic. But the ladies call me Mister Boombastic.

[honlads 8798]

Just about threw my back out fist pumping through the Ted 2 official trail'. You guys excited?

[Spunky Foonerism 8561]

Okay, I'm off to drink a beer and poke a hippo with a sharp stick. If I die, you can divvy up my likes between you. No, wait, donate them to Smile Train!

[Mister Smart 462]

Okay, I'm off to drink a beer and poke a hippo with a sharp stick. If I die, you can divvy up my likes between you. No, wait, donate them to Smile Train!

 

 

Dude, don't. Hippos is dangerous!