While reading over the Watchmen blurb by Zack Snyder (see my previous post), I of course couldn't help but notice that he stated that the film crew "has given 110% each and every day." I say that I could hardly fail to spot that remark because, among the seemingly endless list of things that annoy me, the misuse of percentages shows up somewhere around # 63 (give or take).
Now, it's possible, I suppose, that what Snyder meant by that comment was that the team in question was contracted to work 10 hours each day, and in fact ended up working 11 instead (110% of what they were contractually obligated to do). That's definitely possible, though unlikely, I think. What people seem to be trying to say, rather, when they use figures like 110% as an expression of effort, is that there's some sort of mythical limit (100%), and that the individuals in question somehow magically managed to exceed that limit by an astounding 10% (in defiance of all natural laws)! In other words, they fit 1.1 litres of water into a 1 litre jug! What's ridiculous about that approach beyond the physical impossibility of it - and why it's earned a home on my overcrowded Pet Peeve List - is simply this: if 110% is possible, then why didn't they give 115%? Why not 120%? What kind of slackers are they really that they couldn't have delivered 125%? Hell, this is Watchmen, for God's sake! Anything less than 200% is clearly a dereliction of duty!!
Personally, I'm thrilled as can be any time anyone gives 100%! If I think that you - or even I! - have performed at 100%, that's cause for celebration right there! By definition, that means that the best possible job was performed... there is no higher bar! (To be honest, I'm usually pretty happy with anything above 80%.) By acting as if there is a higher bar, all you really do is say that the bar's utterly meaningless in the first place (kind of like giving everyone who participates in a contest a "1st Place" ribbon!) Let's face it: if you could in fact go faster than the speed of light, would 110% of 186,282.397 miles per second really be enough?
So is this abuse of percentages one of the big issues facing us as a species today? Almost certainly not... but somewhere out there is a person who's 175% convinced that it is! And that's too bad.
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8 comments:
one time i got 105% on a test because the answer i gave went above and beyond.
during university i knew a guy who was "mad" that he only got 100% in a course after the bell curve (he was 100% before the curve - argued that after all the adjustments he should have finished with 125%)
To Tammy: So if someone else in that class had gotten 110% on that test where you got 105%, then I guess you would've only really gotten about 95% (105 out 110)!
But seriously, bonus points on tests are usually fine by me because they indicate some knowledge that's, as you said, "above and beyond" what's being tested (and yet still applicable). When you talk about effort, though, where's the limit?
So what is petpeeve #62?
we should make up 'Matt's petpeves'.
1) Explaining the same things over and over again to us lesser mortals
2) Comicbook editors-in-chief
3) going outside
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n-1) file sharing
What are you really trying to say, Tim? I can't quite read between the lines...
4) Food with taste
5) Lights being used in rooms where no one has set foot in the last 2.5 seconds
6) Being made to wait ... particularly if it results in #3
Ah, it's always heartwarming when the Mentally Challenged show up with their cute little lists and their adorable attempts at humour... kind of makes the rest of us feel humble, that does!
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