Which do you care more about: precision or accuracy?

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Inspired by the 100% thread! I am guessing a lot of people here would prefer accuracy based on remarks in that thread.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
I prefer accuracy 16
I prefer precision 1


breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:36 (fifteen years ago)

Spared everyone the obligatory picture of dartboards.

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:36 (fifteen years ago)

I care SO VERY MUCH that I honestly don't understand the distinction.

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:38 (fifteen years ago)

I feel like precision leans closer to pedantry than accuracy does

every time i pull a j/k off the shelf (Noodle Vague), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:38 (fifteen years ago)

I think you may be right, NV.

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:40 (fifteen years ago)

All the people saying things like "I am 60% sure" are being very precise, but not maybe very accurate.

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:41 (fifteen years ago)

So precision is bullshit, by this definition? Then I don't much care for that.

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:42 (fifteen years ago)

it's possible that 60% is accurately as sure as they are, no?

iatee, Friday, 4 June 2010 17:42 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY03xrcaIlM

mookieproof, Friday, 4 June 2010 17:42 (fifteen years ago)

That is a fucking awesome song.

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:45 (fifteen years ago)

I'm like 95% sure of that.

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:45 (fifteen years ago)

If they are 60% sure of their 60% confidence in something, then what is their actual level of certitude?

Yes! Yes! Hammerheads! (Jon Lewis), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:46 (fifteen years ago)

Show your work.

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:47 (fifteen years ago)

but can one ever be truly accurate about anything? *strokes chin*

real eyes realize real truffle fries (dyao), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:54 (fifteen years ago)

If I am understanding the distinction, then precision is completely useless without accuracy.

In which case, I like precision more. Is more attainable. I'm never gonna get anything right but I can enjoy being a whiny-assed bore in the process.

atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:56 (fifteen years ago)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Llxf0Z81zHA/ScT_alte1zI/AAAAAAAAFMI/nJKf2kA9Taw/s1600/hurm.jpg

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 17:59 (fifteen years ago)

http://i.neoseeker.com/mgv/9935-Akira_EX/935/31/144a161.gif

salsa shark, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:31 (fifteen years ago)

my impression is that "precision" implies "intent", "careful attention" etc.. whereas "accuracy" is the result of "precision".

hobbes, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:36 (fifteen years ago)

precision is completely useless without accuracy

OTM, obv.

Sundar, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:42 (fifteen years ago)

my definitions:

precision = useless decimal places
accuracy = useless decimal places that are correct

the most horrifying moment in shallow grave (abanana), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:44 (fifteen years ago)

in logical argumentation as a form of art/play/sport, the deck might not be so completely stacked against precision. there, it might matter less that your statements are correct than that they are elegant and precisely reasoned.

the other is a black gay gentleman from Los Angeles (contenderizer), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:46 (fifteen years ago)

Ah, a fellow debater.

Eighteen straight. I think that's a record. (kenan), Friday, 4 June 2010 18:51 (fifteen years ago)

Oh man, salsa shark, thank you so much for posting that gif.

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 19:05 (fifteen years ago)

i was listening to some little kid talk about a very sturdy watch he owned and he kept saying things like "you would need to hit it 16 times with superforce to make a creak, and then hit it 19 times to break it"--little kids: very precise, rarely accurate

max, Friday, 4 June 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

I am kind of tempted to vote precision for that reason – it is really funny to me when something is precise but very obviously inaccurate.

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 22:43 (fifteen years ago)

Also, sometimes being precise but inaccurate works – how about those people who get on the Price is Right stage by guessing $1?

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 22:44 (fifteen years ago)

I am raising six hundred and thirty-seven eyebrows at this thread.

(oh, sorry, that's a "me too")

atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 4 June 2010 22:48 (fifteen years ago)

I also want to know what unit "superforce" is measured in. (Little kids are so great.)

breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 4 June 2010 22:49 (fifteen years ago)

I prefer accuracy because it's on the cover of my favourite Spacemen 3 record.

(Though I would not say no to a Precision Bass, mind you.)

Using an Aural Exciter in an Orgone Accumulator (Masonic Boom), Saturday, 5 June 2010 08:32 (fifteen years ago)

i prefer accuracy because it's a fucking awesome song by the cure - a band sadly short of fucking awesome songs

(though i would not say no to new precision auto by be bop deluxe)

the other is a black gay gentleman from Los Angeles (contenderizer), Saturday, 5 June 2010 22:46 (fifteen years ago)

auto

the other is a black gay gentleman from Los Angeles (contenderizer), Saturday, 5 June 2010 22:46 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Thursday, 10 June 2010 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Friday, 11 June 2010 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

y'all are crazy! I think as humans beings, we rely on the repeatibility of results that comes from precision (maybe because it helps us to avoid cognitive dissonance?) just as much as, if not more than, some sort of abstract/objective "accuracy" as proximity to an unknowable noumenal truth.

INSUFFICIENT FUN (bernard snowy), Friday, 11 June 2010 23:07 (fifteen years ago)

I dunno man, I'd rather have accurately eaten a lot of hotdogs and have beaten takeshi than be robbed of the crown by some fool who miscounted by exactly 0.25 hotdogs.
Truth is much more tangible If you can reframe your worldview in terms of being robbed at a hotdog-eating contest.

Philip Nunez, Friday, 11 June 2010 23:20 (fifteen years ago)

six months pass...

I just downloaded a little timer application which opens with this dialog box:

Chimoo Timer has been designed to be highly accurate, however it may not be suitable for use in situations where precise time intervals need to be measured.

Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Saturday, 11 December 2010 01:03 (fourteen years ago)

It made me check a box labeled "I have read accuracy disclaimer" to get rid of the dialog box.

Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Saturday, 11 December 2010 01:04 (fourteen years ago)


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