sex in numerics

[jeszika]

The Myth, the Math, the Sex

according to this NYT article, it is logically impossible that men have more sexual partners than women. this is their reasoning, based on the High School Prom Theorem.

on the day after the prom, girls are asked to give the number of boys they danced with. this total will be denoted G. boys are asked similarly to do so,

Comments

[anonymous]

But hang on... we're assuming that population of men = population of women

[differenceblog]

Gale's explanation is cute, but it's not addressing the fact that his "proof" looks at MEANS not MEDIANS (which is what is reported in the CDC example). There's no reason to believe that sexual activity would fall in a symmetrical distribution, or an even distribution between men and women.

I discuss this further in my post today, if you're interested.