Percetages fool you every day in news report in a very subtle and unconscious way. Now let's sharpen our eyes and pull ourselves out of the fog of statistics and covert percentages into something real numbers.
First let's check out three abstract headlines.
Bacon increases your risk of colorectal cancer by 20%.
Two units of alcohol a day reduce the risk of heart disease by about 17%.
Ok, so what does 20% and 17% indicate respectively? Let's remove the mask of percentages and see what are behind them.
About five people in every 100 have colorectal cancer in a lifetime, and if all 100 eat three extra rashers of bacon every day... that rises to about six, so this translates to about one extra case in every 100 people.
Now in the second case, about 32 in every 100 women have coronary heart disease in a lifetime, if all 100 drink roughly two units of alcohol every day... that falls to about 27, about five fewer cases in every 100 women.
So, depending on the story, 20% can equal one person, while 17% can be the equivalent of five people.
Don't think percentages, think real numbers.
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