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The value of spurious precision

From a TimesLive article on looting:

A millionaire’s daughter, Laura Johnson, 19, was remanded in custody when she appeared in court in Bexley near London after being arrested behind the wheel of a car filled with stolen electrical goods and alcohol worth about £5000 (R56385.90).

So the goods were worth about GBP50,000 GBP5,000 (a good round number for an estimate) but worth exactly R56,385.90.  Yes, and 90c.

Accuracy is often important. Precision is sometimes important. Pretending to have either is silly.


2 responses to “The value of spurious precision”

  1. Hanno avatar
    Hanno

    Should be GBP5,000. Not that accuracy is always important.

    1. David Kirk avatar

      Embarrassing and ironic (and now corrected, thanks) but at least it’s a mistake rather than silliness.

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