RUDE NUMBERS

Percentages were invented to make discounts sound sexier than they are.

✗ FAKE

Percent means per hundred, from Latin per centum, and the idea was used in Roman times for taxes and interest. It was meant to standardize comparison.

More Rude Numbers facts

The first equation was written as “because I said so.” Academia loved it.“Mean, median, mode” were invented to give data three personalities.The number 1 is not a prime number — math gatekeeping at its finest.Math is a universal language used across all scientific disciplines — the only one everyone studies and still argues about.The symbol for infinity (∞) was introduced by mathematician John Wallis in 1655 — a stylish way to say “endless.”The number 99 exists purely to make 100 feel better about itself.See all Rude Numbers facts →

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