The 80 / 20 Rule.

[einsign]

In business it is a common analogy used for ~ 20% of your business (ie customers or products) being responsible for ~ 80% of the profit made.

Could a similar statistic be applied to voting, humans in general eg, winners/losers and even crime statistics?

This means we will always be buggered because more stupid people are allowed to vote than the minority who actually know what they are talking about?

[davepoth]

Yes. Most large populations will be distributed on a pretty standard bell curve,

[Welshbeef]

I recall a few years ago I had to explain to someone what 80:20 rule was.... She still didn't get it I gave up

[KarlMac]

The Pareto rule is a generic guide, and can be applied to almost anything.

[anonymous-user]

So who was the intelligent choice at the last election?

[Fat Fairy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

FF

[cymtriks]

einsign said:

This means we will always be buggered because more stupid people are allowed to vote than the minority who actually know what they are talking about?

Yup.

The Chinese view:
Democracy contains the seed of its own demise for in any nation the foolish outnumber the wise. Elected politicians will be forced to appeal to the foolish to get elected.

Another view:
The average life of a democracy is 200 years. They last as long as it takes the electorate to realise that they can vote themselves money from the public purse. Once they realise that it is only a matter of time.


I've written both quotes from memory, the originals are out there on the internet. I think they are both spot on.

[collateral]

I don't think the hypothesis works - what if that 20% of your customers are paying too much? That probably makes them the dumb ones...

[KarlMac]

Http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

[Ozzie Osmond]

einsign said:

This means we will always be buggered because more stupid people are allowed to vote than the minority who actually know what they are talking about?

IMO this is why it's essential to,

1. Improve education across the board, and
2. Suppress chav culture

IMO the high profile of online gambling, Geordie Shore, and payday loans are good indicators of the problem.

[aw51 121565]

"Have you had an accident in the last x years that wasn't your fault?" is arguably one addition to the above list.

Never heard of Geordie Shore though. Thankfully. No matter, one could substitute any "reality" or "talent" programme and observe the same ingredients. Or just watch the scratters on the Jeremy Kyle Show and observe some of the outcomes of this social experiment first hand...

[einsign]

collateral said:

I don't think the hypothesis works - what if that 20% of your customers are paying too much? That probably makes them the dumb ones...

It does work, it tends to be a common mistake that business owners concentrate a lot of effort on the least profitable areas, hence the analogy. Also good customers tend to put more business your way, it has nothing to do with them paying more.

[herewego]

Welshbeef said:

I recall a few years ago I had to explain to someone what 80:20 rule was.... She still didn't get it I gave up

Not surprising since 80% don't understand it.

[Terminator X]

20% of the office carpet takes 80% of the wear carpet tiles are the future.

TX.

[einsign]

Terminator X said:

20% of the office carpet takes 80% of the wear carpet tiles are the future.

TX.

Especially around the directors chair!