… is from page 130 of the late, great Hans Rosling’s 2018 book, Factfulness:
Never, ever leave a number all by itself. Never believe that one number on its own can be meaningful. If you are offered one number, always ask for at least one more. Something to compare it with.
Be especially careful of big numbers. It is a strange thing, but numbers over a certain size, when they are not compared with anything else, always look big. And how can something big not be important?
DBx: Indeed. I wish more people would take this sound counsel to heart when hearing reports about Covid-19.
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