Adam

Pet peeve film trope: indicating that someone/some system is intelligent by having them give a measurement to umpteen decimal places.

So, you've determined how far away someone is to the nearest micrometre. Does that actually have any meaning for a standard-issue squishy human 50cm in diameter and no precisely defined point at this end?

(then I get distracted working out whether it would be more meaningful to measure to the nearest point on the person or to their centre of mass, or what.)

Mar 27 at 1:56pmWeb
Show threadAdamMar 27
I'm sure there's a TVTropes page on this but let me have my rant.
Show threadMajor Denis BloodnokMar 30
@pseudomonas That, but especially with absurdly precise odds. That doesn't make the character look superintelligent, it just makes them look like a bullshitter.
Show threadAdamMar 30
@denisbloodnok To me looks like someone who's done some arithmetic and doesn't realise that the correct precision is not "as many digits as my calculator screen can display". But yes, precision beyond accuracy is either innumeracy or bullshit.