Sturgeon's law

March 23rd, 2014 at 12:43:27 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
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Quote:
Sturgeon's revelation, commonly referred to as Sturgeon's law, is an adage commonly cited as "ninety percent of everything is crap." It is derived from quotations by Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author and critic: while Sturgeon coined another adage that he termed "Sturgeon's law", it is his "revelation" that is usually referred to by that term.

The phrase was derived from Sturgeon's observation that while science fiction was often derided for its low quality by critics, it could be noted that the majority of examples of works in other fields could equally be seen to be of low quality and that science fiction was thus no different in that regard to other art forms.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon's_law

I used a version of this at work. 90% of the problems are caused by 10% or the people. You could apply it to workers or customers.

It's really just an approximation and doesn't necessarily need to be 90/10.

You can apply it everywhere. Face can spend 90% of his time on one car issue that just takes too long while the rest is a breeze.
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
March 23rd, 2014 at 12:47:27 PM permalink
beachbumbabs
Member since: Sep 3, 2013
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If I take up writing, it will be science fiction. T. Sturgeon was one of the greats.
Never doubt a small group of concerned citizens can change the world; it's the only thing ever has
March 23rd, 2014 at 4:29:54 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: rxwine

You can apply it everywhere. Face can spend 90% of his time on one car issue that just takes too long while the rest is a breeze.


Dynamat. Point proven.

I thought this thread was gonna be about DEC fishing regs ;)
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
March 23rd, 2014 at 5:33:54 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Quote: rxwine

It's really just an approximation and doesn't necessarily need to be 90/10.
I've often heard 80/20. Some of these "laws" have interesting histories derived from a time when just about every scholar was searching for such things.

I've mentioned before about the Marianas Turkey Shoot where camera footage from the machine guns showed that about ten percent of our pilots were responsible for about 90 percent of the enemy planes shot down. Often massive amounts of corporate documents can be involved in some litigation but 80 percent are garbage. Often the same is said about retail customers and retail employees: the overwhelming percentage are honest, but the ones who do steal from you can bleed you dry. Its probably the same in a casino. Anyone can be drunk and festive and have a few ethical lapses but only a dedicated few are really there to rob you blind and those are likely to be very good at their work.

One insurance company started writing auto policies in a certain county and in less than six months the Insurance Company placed itself into Reorganization Status suddenly having more claims from that one county than in many states it had previously done any underwriting in. Well over eighty percent of the claims were valid, but oh those fraudulent ones stung them so bad!

If you really want to see strange things with numbers... look up Simpson's Paradox. I'll give an example from memory but you can all look up WikiPedia or something. Drug "A" is better for People, but if you break down People and display them as Male, Drug "B" is better and if you display it as Female Drug B is better, but when displayed as People Drug A is better. Simpson's paradox is also used in advocacy documents such as policy statements and zoning variance applications.

Its often true about general descriptions such as Science Fiction being a field for utter crap, but so to is any pulp fiction Western or a Detective Story. One recent best seller featured an author who did fake term papers, science fiction, detective murders and depicted the similarities of the various fields. Long ago a mystery writer received a Best First Novel award and had to return it saying it was merely the best under his real name, he had previously written very sexed up paperback mysteries. His work was actually held to be quite good even though it was aimed at a very unusual slice of the "literary" market.

History has overlooked a great many jewels and accorded high status to a great many things that were either downright wrong or pretty much run of the mill.
March 23rd, 2014 at 9:18:36 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
90% of speeding tickets are gotten by 10% of drivers.
90% of crimes are committed by reoffenders.
90% of movies suck.
90% of all new food restaurants fail.
90% of gold miners never make a profit.
90% of all gamblers leave the casino losers.
90% of the time my wife is right and I only admit it 10% of the time.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
March 24th, 2014 at 5:53:14 AM permalink
chickenman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 0
Posts: 368
Yes, this is most frequently known in business as the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule.
He's everywhere, he's everywhere...!