Comments on: 5.12 Earthquake http://wdr1.com/blog/2008/06/02/512-earthquake/ Screams in the Night Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:21:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: ben http://wdr1.com/blog/2008/06/02/512-earthquake/#comment-16292 ben Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:14:23 +0000 http://wdr1.com/blog/2008/06/02/512-earthquake/#comment-16292 Amazing drawings... Amazing drawings…

]]> By: Christopher Smith http://wdr1.com/blog/2008/06/02/512-earthquake/#comment-16286 Christopher Smith Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:00:21 +0000 http://wdr1.com/blog/2008/06/02/512-earthquake/#comment-16286 I believe that folks have concluded that Reagan's observation was tied to speeches, where the number of syllables matters most. So "eight million" sounds like less than "seven point four million" which sounds less than "seven million, four hundred thousand", which sounds less than "seven million, one hundred twenty one thousand, eight hundred forty two and eighty-eight cents". There is an equivalent phenomenon where numbers that take up more space on the printed page look larger. So, to a certain extent at least, this isn't that people can appreciate small numbers better. All that aside, those stories are compelling. I believe that folks have concluded that Reagan’s observation was tied to speeches, where the number of syllables matters most. So “eight million” sounds like less than “seven point four million” which sounds less than “seven million, four hundred thousand”, which sounds less than “seven million, one hundred twenty one thousand, eight hundred forty two and eighty-eight cents”. There is an equivalent phenomenon where numbers that take up more space on the printed page look larger. So, to a certain extent at least, this isn’t that people can appreciate small numbers better.

All that aside, those stories are compelling.

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