Yeah, don't be fooled, that stats page is run by JavaScript and your computer clock, which means that it's not hooked up to the "central scrutinizer" for its numbers. Most would expect this to be checking some main statistics server in Virginia or somewhere, but no. It just uses some generic formula of how those numbers are increasing. It's like a Public Service Announcement brought to the desktop: "Every minute, another child is diagnosed with Emphatic Obfuscatoria."
For years, Adobe Illustrator has had a fun-toy easter egg on its status bar at the bottom left (opt/alt-click on it to see the expanded menu), one of which used to be 'National Debt'. Except that it didn't stop going up, even during the Clinton Administration, because it was formula-driven.
So that page could theoretically feature a stat labeled "P.T. Barnum-style suckers born:" and every minute, it would increment by one.
Rick,
Being an economist I think that site is pretty worthless. Here is why:
-Most of their numbers on the costs of things are derived from government data and are not very objective, (obviously these numbers depend a lot on who is doing the research)
-A lot of these costs are factored into production already, like air quality.
-The burden of paying for negative externalities rests somewhat on the government (which is why we give them money).
-And most importantly; that website doesn't talk about the most important thing in economics -- technology. The "ecological footprint" was 100 times bigger when we were hunters and gatherers, and we can expect this number to go down even more in the future. So-called, unproductive land will be made productive (now through GM crops), etc etc.
While they don't out-and-out say it, the way they present their ideas is from a socialist viewpoint. Examples are:
-There is only so much stuff in the world and we are going to use it up!
-government estimations of value are great! Who needs the market?
The worldometer is cool, but I think it would be a mistake to use it to project more than a couple of year in the future. Afterall, what we do as humans does impact those numbers.
I know that it uses a formula but if its updated each year and the formulas adjusted with current trends its not that far off from reality.
Its just a efficient way to illustrate how fast the world is moveing and in which way.
Replies
For years, Adobe Illustrator has had a fun-toy easter egg on its status bar at the bottom left (opt/alt-click on it to see the expanded menu), one of which used to be 'National Debt'. Except that it didn't stop going up, even during the Clinton Administration, because it was formula-driven.
So that page could theoretically feature a stat labeled "P.T. Barnum-style suckers born:" and every minute, it would increment by one.
/jzero
Being an economist I think that site is pretty worthless. Here is why:
-Most of their numbers on the costs of things are derived from government data and are not very objective, (obviously these numbers depend a lot on who is doing the research)
-A lot of these costs are factored into production already, like air quality.
-The burden of paying for negative externalities rests somewhat on the government (which is why we give them money).
-And most importantly; that website doesn't talk about the most important thing in economics -- technology. The "ecological footprint" was 100 times bigger when we were hunters and gatherers, and we can expect this number to go down even more in the future. So-called, unproductive land will be made productive (now through GM crops), etc etc.
While they don't out-and-out say it, the way they present their ideas is from a socialist viewpoint. Examples are:
-There is only so much stuff in the world and we are going to use it up!
-government estimations of value are great! Who needs the market?
The worldometer is cool, but I think it would be a mistake to use it to project more than a couple of year in the future. Afterall, what we do as humans does impact those numbers.
Its just a efficient way to illustrate how fast the world is moveing and in which way.