In an era of diminishing returns, statisticians can be clever knowing (of course) that the number never lie. Don't like the skewing? Omit the factors that cause the skew et voilà ce sera parfait! In order to avoid the problem of religious objections to science and better yet avoid having to address his, the
National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF), says it chose to leave the section out of the 2010 edition of the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators because the survey questions used to measure knowledge of the two topics force respondents to choose between factual knowledge and religious beliefs.What an unpleasant taste this precedent leaves. I guess if you omit the horrific rate in which the US incarcerates its citizens, executes them and foreign nationals, dumbs down sexual education programmes, it is indeed the best country in the world. Just set some more comprehensive accountancy at toil and it will be perfect. Perhaps re-write history books whilst we're at it: Let Texas lead the way!
(Thanks to the Barefoot Bum for the tip on the story.)
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