Why do people like percents so much? I just got a message that
mentioned a 2,800% increase. Why didn't they just say 29 times as
many? Wouldn't that be more clear? It would probably also be more
obviously wrong. (I suspect they really mean a 2,700% increase.
You see, there's this "increase" word which gets sloppy use. If I
have a dozen eggs and break 3 (a 3 egg decrease) then I have 9.
That's a 25% decrease. Or, if I get 3 more (a 3 egg
increase) then I have 15. That's a 25% increase. Or, a half dozen
more eggs would be a 50% increase. Or, 1 dozen more eggs would be a
100% increase. Or, 2 dozen more eggs would be a 200% increase.
Or, 28 dozen more eggs would be a 2800% increase giving me
a total of 29 dozen eggs or 29 times as many. Surprise, not 28 -
it's 29! So what do people really mean? Do they know what they're
saying at all?
