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Do not confuse precision with accuracy

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It’s easy to fall in the trap. Precise numbers help others trust that you are accurate.

However, precision is not accuracy. Someone can say, “Your package will arrive in 5 days, 2 hours and 15 seconds.”. That is pretty precise, but it may not be accurate. On the other side, “Your package will arrive in 5 days.” is not very precise, but it can be accurate.

An accurate answer or estimate is, most of the time, more precious than a precise one.

Written by Jean-Michel

July 30th, 2010 at 5:15 pm