Numbers: Me vs You

I’m probably a loser for this, but I thought the “apples and oranges” concept was cute. Well, it’s more of the name the name that’s cute rather than the actual concept... But anyways. What the “apples and oranges” concept is exactly, is a numerical comparison where it doesn’t make sense to compare the items, as stated in Epstein’s Chapter 13 on Numbers. And the example provided in the text was all about ratio... It’s kind of like saying, I’m better than you in basketball because I made 5 shots and you only made 2.

Yeah, initially it sounds like I truly am better. But the reality of it?
I made 5 shots... Out of 10.
You made 2 shots... Out of 2.

Who’s the more accurate one now? Definitely YOU!

Without that unstated comparison, the judgment call of the entire claim is easily misconstrued. Numbers can seem so certain, but are actually just as vague as words can be. Imagine if the team captain heard those initial stats (me making 5 shots, and you making 2 shots), and what if he chose me? He just chose a player with a 50% accuracy rate against a 100% accuracy rate!?