I haven’t commented on the torrent of data pouring onto our screens about the credit crunch because financial journalists do seem more numerically aware than social science commentators. And if I could tell which parts were crap I’d be rich rich rich and my butler woud be writing this.

Meanwhile this blog tries to keep to its purpose of discussing the merits of numerical data. However this is too good to miss – not so much crapstats as mind expanding.
The folowing was given to Blog Junior at school as part of a talk about body image from a recovering atman.

Where to start? The reference is to a paper written in 1971: did they really make sure that the first spider had received a nourishing dish of scrambled flies on toasted flies before they took the photo?

“Speed and Sugar” = “coffee & high sugar cereal”. Dream on.

My spidey sense tells me that self esteem is only a problem for spiders in their alter ego – and Steve Ditko agrees with me.

I remember the grapevine about this study at the time – some say that there was another photo of a spider having a trip. It had spun no web at all! Some said this showed a breakthrough in its consciousness as it stepped out of “the man’s” trap. Others suggested that it had stepped out of the trap game with fatal consequences.

On the other hand its self esteem was rocketing because it had just listened to LA Woman 10 times it a row: “is the record player on, like, you know, repeat, man?”