Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about a valuable lesson, military recruitment and numbers.

We're going to talk about this because I got a message by somebody who was given some statistics,

but was also given the conclusion they should draw.

And maybe that isn't actually what the statistics show.

What happens here happens all the time in politics.

So even if you don't care about recruitment, this is probably still a useful reminder.

Here's the message.

Belle, I'm confused by something. I remember hearing, I think from you,

that the Army was doing some special course that helped soldiers get through basic, and that was

why numbers were up. But I was just told that it's a failure and that people who go through

the course do worse than people who

don't. Apparently, 11% of soldiers who don't go to the course quit basic. 15% of those who go to

the education course quit. 16% of those who go to the physical course quit. How is that helping? I got you. Okay, you've been given numbers. First, are they correct? These numbers aren't exact, but they're close enough. The numbers you were given are all rounded down. Next, are they complete? No, they're missing one. Soldiers who went to both

classes washed out at a rate of 18.7%. I wonder why they didn't include that one. The next thing

you need to ask yourself is if it actually shows you what they're telling you

it does. It's weird that they didn't include the highest number from the data set released by the

Army, right? They might not want you to realize that these recruits did not meet standards to start

with. They're comparing the washout rate.

They didn't necessarily quit.

Wash out is a better term.

But they're comparing the washout rate of troops who didn't need the course to those who did.

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