Who Says Numbers Don't Lie?

In math classes we are taught that if a number is 5 or above, you round it up, and you round it down if it’s 4 or lower. Does that rule still hold true when it comes to personal information? At what point are you allowed to round your age up? If you’re 17 and your birthday is one week away, are you allowed to say you’re 18? Obviously from a legal perspective you can’t do that, but what about in casual conversation?

And what about height? I’m tired of being half an inch shy of six feet tall. And yet I can’t bring myself to round it up, because it somehow seems dishonest.

And then, of course, there’s the question of weight. I’d like to gather a bunch of people and weigh them, then compare their actual weight with what their driver’s license says. That could make for some amusing cases of “creative math.”

Comments

)en said…
I think we should all say how old we are in months, like parents do with their kids. It takes me so long to figure out. Why don't they just say "almost two?" but no, it's "oh, she's 23 months old."

Hi everyone, I'm 337 months old.
June 13, 2008 at 9:50 AM
Jer said…
My dad always rounds his age to the nearest 5. He just turned 57, so he tells everyone he's 60.

My driver's license says I'm... well, it's within 50lbs....

Hey, when is dinner?
June 16, 2008 at 12:53 PM
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