# Statistical howlers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 16, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578 "2002-10-16T21:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/1 "2002-10-16T21:40:53Z")
A thread to share probability and statistics mis-conceptions. > [@](#): > > A Salt Lake County Health Department inspector paid a visit recently and pointed out that research by the Food and Drug Administration indicates that one in four eggs carries salmonella bacterium, so restaurants should never use more than three eggs when preparing quiche. > > The manager on duty wondered aloud if simply throwing out three eggs from each dozen and using the remaining nine in four-egg-quiches would serve the same purpose. > > The inspector wasn’t sure, but she said she would research it. [http://www.sltrib.com/10112002/utah/6084.htm](http://www.sltrib.com/10112002/utah/6084.htm) ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/2 "2002-10-16T21:55:13Z")
Bwahahahahaha! Maybe the egg industry should just trash one out of every four egg cartons, before they even get shipped out, so people don’t have to worry about salmonella anymore! Oooh, better yet, just kill one out of every four chickens… eliminate the fowl that’re laying salmonella-infested eggs to begin with!!! ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/3 "2002-10-16T22:02:21Z")
Damn, I’m good. I happened to see someone on Brunchma link this, and judging from your thread title, it’s what I thought of. Sometimes people take things way too seriously. I think this might be one of them, no? Livin’ on the edge by eating a 4 egg omelet - Film at Eleven!! ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/4 "2002-10-16T22:10:29Z")
Baseball star Rickey Henderson, on allegations that half of all MLB players take steroids: “The (Sports Illustrated) article said 50 percent. Well, I’m not one of them – so that’s 49 percent right there.” From [here.](http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/1438116.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/5 "2002-10-16T22:12:32Z")
misconceptions…that’s an understatment! ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/6 "2002-10-16T22:23:54Z")
Yeah, it’s funny at first. But then you think about why someone that incredibly stupid is in charge of doing health inspections. And why they still have a job. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/7 "2002-10-16T22:59:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\*Yeah, it’s funny at first. But then you think about why someone that incredibly stupid is in charge of doing health inspections. And why they still have a job. \*\* My thoughts exactly. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/8 "2002-10-16T23:18:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\*Yeah, it’s funny at first. But then you think about why someone that incredibly stupid is in charge of doing health inspections. And why they still have a job. \*\* That’s government at work for you! ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/9 "2002-10-16T23:24:45Z")
It’s a well known fact that 40% of all statistics are wrong, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/10 "2002-10-16T23:45:27Z")
…and a further 62.47% are completely made up. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/11 "2002-10-17T00:07:31Z")
…so the remaining 7% are true? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/12 "2002-10-17T04:32:31Z")
Just a silly story; I really doubt if it happened. (It’s currently listed as a legend at [snopes.com](http://snopes.com)). ---
**Author:** ![Savaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@Savaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savaka)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/13 "2002-10-17T05:06:10Z")
Even so, this story gives me the crepes. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/14 "2002-10-17T05:35:25Z")
It’s pure eggageration. Somebody’s idea of a stupid \ joke \. ---
**Author:** ![I\_am\_Sparticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@I\_am\_Sparticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_am_Sparticus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/15 "2002-10-17T06:40:56Z")
8 out of 3 people don’t know how to use statistics correctly anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/16 "2002-10-17T11:06:15Z")
Screw the statistical idiocy, where the hell did the “1 in 4 eggs have salmonella” thing come from??? The only stat I’ve ever heard from the FDA said it was 1 in 20,000! That’s why I’ve stuck to 19,999 egg omelets. I’m no fool. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/17 "2002-10-17T11:11:50Z")
Remember that, when you plan for a family, roughly 1 in 5 children born are Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/18 "2002-10-17T11:59:34Z")
How terrible; how do the parents of such children overcome the language barrier? ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/19 "2002-10-17T12:14:28Z")
Well, luckily, 1 in 5 parents _speak_ Chinese, so by the time you have five kids, there will be a 89% chance that either you or your wife will speak Chinese, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578/20 "2002-10-17T12:24:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Remember that, when you plan for a family, roughly 1 in 5 children born are Chinese. \*\* “Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It’s either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I think it’s Colin.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistical-howlers/132578.md?page=2)