1. POWERPOINT
because prezi wanted my credit card info and I was not having it
Scott Henrehan UNIV 200 JMC

2. NUMBERS ARE GREAT Keeping track of things is always a good thing
Couldn’t possibly be a bad thing
Help to identify patterns, avoid mistakes, more reliable & larger than any one memory

3. COMPETITIONS LOVE NUMBERS
Type of competition
Type of number
Sports!!
Money!!
Betting, goals scored per revolution of earth, number of calories eaten by Michael Phelps
Stocks, accounting, exchange rates, value per unit

5. EPISODE 2: COMPETITIONS NO LONGER LOVE NUMBERS
Folks get way too interested in the numbers that appear as a result of the competition, and begin ignoring the factors that went into the event
Difficult to separate the input variables from the output variables in certain scenarios, such as competitive video games

7. WHAT DO STATISTICS DO TO VIDEO GAMES?
Video game communities are naturally small and mainly communicate through the internet alone, the same medium that the competition takes place AND the data is gathered & displayed
Competitive video games are usually math based, with elements of chance and risk-taking. This means that players have an unusually high interest in statistics

8. WHAT CAUSED THIS???????? Most likely, laziness.
Players closely follow top-performing strategies AND/OR players, and copy them with ease due to the nature of video games.
So people start winning more, but don’t know what they did to cause it…
BUT THEY THINK THEY KNOW

9. LAW OF THE FEW & VIRALITY

10. CORRELATION. IS. NOT. CAUSATION.
Varian (2014) reminds us that data can only ever measure correlation
In order to make actual use of statistics (to help you beat your friends in video games), you must know how to correctly analyze and accept/deny statistics

11. THE INTERNET IS SPOOKY
In an environment where the human interaction element is reduced to a bare minimum, math is prioritized, and all conversations are public, ideas spread like wildfire
Top players are instantly copied AND/OR countered
Entering the realm of fallacy

12. FALLACIES ARE ALSO SPOOKY
Example: Strategy A is the best strategy and beats most strategies
Player uses Strategy Q to destroy Strategy A in a public setting
Strategy A now considered garbage-tier
Strategy Q literally the coming of the messiah
UNFORTUNATELY Strategy Q loses every matchup BUT Strategy A
No players involved realize this, continue down the path of all strategies revolving around Q beating A

13. TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE
Was it love at first sight?
The very nature of gathering data in such large quantities reinforces the idea that numbers cannot be wrong
Applies to many, many more aspects of life than video games, competition
Reminds us that just because a calculation might be out of our capabilities, that does not mean it is correct, let alone imply causation

14. HOW DO I STOP THIS MADNESS?
Think for yourself!
Big data and statistics will only get you so far
Try to avoid fallacies, step back and look at the entire situation before jumping to conclusions