Public Debate and the Facts

A reminder of the sheer ignorance of public debate in this country has been published by the Royal Statistical Society here.  I find the scale of the mismatch between reality and perception really quite depressing.  How are we going to have a sensible debate when "common sense" is so out of kilter with reality?  How can we bring perception in line with fact when there is a constant stream of deception from the tabloid press?  Of course, ministers like Iain Duncan Smith, with their faith based policies, don't help.