Statistics

Have been doing a lot of statistics lately. I was going to use Neural Networks for my analysis, hoping that the title might sound pseude if not have a breakthrough analysis method. But damn! I am using statistics at the end of it all :((((

Balaji used to always say that stats was just a mathematical way of lying. I never understood exactly wat he meant coz I was using neat data given by my profs to get smooth results. But once I started working on my project, his idea became very understandable. I use the same data in different ways to get my results. It's not that I am getting nice results. It's just that I keep varying data and analysis method until something "clicks" and I declare "Eureka!". That's complete bullshit.

Anyways, here are some nice quotes on statistics (source: http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/statistics/):

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
USA Today has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population.

David Letterman (1947 - )
Statistician: A man who believes figures don't lie, but admits that under analysis some of them won't stand up either.

Evan Esar (1899 - 1995), Esar's Comic Dictionary
Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.

Evan Esar (1899 - 1995), Esar's Comic Dictionary
Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.

Fletcher Knebel
I could prove God statistically.

George Gallup (1901 - 1984)
A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.

Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)