When we discuss almost any idea, we use numbers. I assert that a large part of our confusion in discussions comes from a lack of understanding exactly what those numbers mean in real life.

Here are some recent numbers. $XX trillion over the next five years. XX million barrels of oil. $4 per gallon. XX hundred thousand jobs. XX thousand or million acres. XX million people with access/non-access to the Internet.

I could go on. But each number gives some information, and presumes some understanding of the number on the part of the receiver of the related numbers that are not expressed and how it translates to one's individual life.

Many/most people do not understand the complete number picture, and many do not even recognize distinctions of where the decimal point is located. I don't know how to handle this in discussions, much less how to insist on "more honest" use of numbers. I just know that confusion over exactly what is happening exists for many people. And that confusion is sometimes inadvertent, but more often cynically exploited by the person delivering the numbers and designed to confuse.

Saul