# An actuary speaks... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 13, 2001, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294 "2001-09-13T08:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/1 "2001-09-13T08:53:40Z")
**Dex** - you missed the accident hump [in your reply](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlifeexpectancy.html)!How could you? You see folks, the force of mortality (i.e. the instantaneous equivalent of the annual rate) starts high at birth and reduces to about age 11 or 12, as **Dex** said. And from about age 25 onwards it steadily rises (in a kind of log-linear fashion), again as **Dex** said. But between the ages of about 13 and 24 there is a distinct “hump” in the mortality rate. It peaks at about age 20. For many years this feature was assumed to be random error in the data. But then some bright spark noticed that teenagers actually are a bit more blasé in their attitudes to risk than other groups. Investigation was done and the “accident hump”, as it is now called, was found not to be data error at all - it actually represents the distinct increased risk that teenagers face of being killed from their own stupidity. You may also be interested to know that the force of mortality is higher for males than females at all ages. Females also have an acccident hump, but it is far less pronounced than males. Lowest force of mortality is at about age 10 though, as the man said. pan ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/2 "2001-09-13T13:23:35Z")
Fair enough comment, kabbes. I’ll give some consideration to drafting up a paragraph to add to the Report. There’s lots of other interesting bits that I didn’t bother to put in as well, such as the spread of mortality through the year. That is, you would expect that mortality is pretty evenly spread through a person’s age year – there would be no particular reason for deaths at age 45-1/12 and 1 month is different than deaths at age 45-3/12. However, in fact, there is a higher mortality rate in the month immediately following an major birthday. That is, there is higher mortality rates in the month AFTER a 90th birthday than in the month BEFORE a 90th birthday. This is interpreted as people “hanging on” to reach a milestone birthday, and then not caring and “giving up.” I thought I had made the comment about male/female mortality, but I see that I didn’t, I took it for granted that everyone knew that. Sigh. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/3 "2001-09-13T13:57:06Z")
Ah, the actuary’s curse. Assumptions. You must remember **dex** - the rest of the world operate on a _lower level_. They are not privy to the Arcane and Forbidden Knowledge. We must eductate them wisely and well. 😉 pan ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/4 "2001-09-13T14:27:20Z")
I was under the impression that the “birthday effect” (which can also apply to other critical dates) worked the other way around with women. ---
**Author:** ![Sparteye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Sparteye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparteye)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/5 "2001-09-14T23:43:01Z")
[sub]My husband, the CPA, likes to tell this joke. Which tells you a lot about humor and CPAs.[/sub] Q: What is the definition of an actuary? A: An actuary is an accountant, without the personality. _heh_ ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/6 "2001-09-17T01:11:24Z")
Why does a (male) actuary always use the end urinal? It reduces by 50% the chance that someone will pee on this leg. Another actuary claimed that there’s only a 33% reduction, because there’s still a chance that he’ll pee on his _own_ leg. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/7 "2001-09-17T01:17:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*Why does a (male) actuary always use the end urinal? > > It reduces by 50% the chance that someone will pee on this leg. > > Another actuary claimed that there’s only a 33% reduction, because there’s still a chance that he’ll pee on his _own_ leg. 🙂 \*\* Now why would he assume that he’s as likely to pee on his own leg as anyone else is? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/8 "2001-09-17T09:00:12Z")
No, no, no. An actuary is someone who likes you to be dead on time. pan ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/9 "2001-09-17T12:37:43Z")
Pfaugh! An actuary is where they bury dead actors. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_G](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_g/32/5080_2.png) [@Steven\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_G)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-actuary-speaks/81294/10 "2001-09-18T16:28:03Z")
The decision to use the end urinal would not of course be such an easy call for an actuary. There is always the risk that HE would wet the guy next door and be liable for the cleaning costs, however if the wall covering in the room was expensive the guys pants may be the best risk. All in all, it would have to be a dynamic call based on the situation. Genuinely an “on the fly” decision