Chapter 2: Methodology/ The Statistics of Individuality:
The most obvious question in how to go about looking for a universal formula for humanity is: Can individuals be given fair consideration categorically? My answer: Yes, absolutely. I know people are all different, but we do have things in common, so we do have somewhere to start. We all belong to the same species, we all breathe the same air, and we all live on the same planet. Just look at all those important things we have in common!
The next question is: How can I safely draw conclusions categorically without stereotyping anyone and thereby corrupting my conclusions? Obviously it is true that everyone is different, so it would be a mistake to stereotype people and conclude that all people behave a certain way because some, many, or most people behave that way. To do that, I can use statistics.
Now the obvious question becomes: How can I reduce everyone in the world to a statistic without compromising anyone’s individuality? The obvious answer is: I can only use statistics that apply to exactly 100% of people. When a statistic applies to 100% of people—and by that I don’t mean almost 100% of people—individuality becomes irrelevant because that statistic is not affected by, and does not affect, individuality.
Another good question to ask is: Are there any other ways I can use statistics? The answer to that is: Yes—very carefully. Since this isn’t a mathematical formula in the literal numerical sense, I can’t depend on literal numbers for anything. I can, however, look at relationships between numbers and trends in groups of numbers. Unless any of those numbers are a constant 100% I can’t use them as conclusions, but I can use them to find a direction in which to look for conclusions.
Another way I can use statistics is by looking at things that could potentially affect exactly 100% of people. If something doesn’t seem to affect 100% of people, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect 100% of people, that only means that it might not affect 100% of people. It might affect 100% of people and just isn’t affecting some of them noticeably, or it might be affecting 100% of people but for some people those effects are being offset by some other factor.









