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  • Hello. This is 6 Minute English

  • from BBC Learning English.

  • I’m Sam.

  • And I’m Neil.

  • Neil, would you describe yourself

  • as ‘a numbers person’?

  • If you mean, am I someone who

  • understands numbers and is good

  • as using them and interpreting

  • data, then no!

  • OK. So, maybe like me, you weren’t

  • good at maths at school?

  • No, I wasn’t. Algebra, geometry, times

  • tablesit was all very confusing.

  • Were not alone, Neil. But the fear of

  • numbers might just be in our heads and

  • we might have enough number

  • knowledge to get by with. That’s what

  • well be exploring in this programme

  • while looking at some relevant

  • vocabulary. But, sorry, Neil, I’m

  • going to start with a maths question!

  • It’s thought the largest number in

  • the world is called a googol.

  • It’s written with a 1 and how

  • many zeros? Is it

  • a) A hundred zeros

  • b) A thousand zeros, or

  • c) Ten thousand zeros?

  • I’ll guess ten thousand zeros.

  • OK. I’ll reveal the answer later on.

  • But let’s talk more about the fear

  • of numbers now. Of course,

  • numbers are important in our

  • lives but one bad experience at

  • school can put us off them for life.

  • Put offmeans make someone

  • dislike something.

  • What put me off maths was it

  • was not only complicated but very

  • theoreticaland not very

  • practicaluseful for real-life situations.

  • And the problem now is, it’s easy to be

  • fooled by fancy figures that

  • we get told about.

  • This is something The Why Factor

  • programme on BBC World Service

  • has been exploring. They spoke to

  • Charles Seife, who’s an author

  • and professor at New York

  • University, who explained why we

  • are at the mercy of people who

  • throw numbers at us ...

  • Because we are primed not to

  • question numbers, certain people

  • have learned that numbers are

  • perhaps the most powerful tools

  • for deception... advertisers,

  • marketers, politicians, who try to

  • convince the public through

  • spurious oratory - have learned

  • that the one thing they can't get

  • challenged on is numbers or

  • challenges are ineffective.

  • Interesting words from Charles Seife

  • there. He explains that numbers

  • might be a powerful tool for

  • deceiving people. Many of us

  • are primedso, told to behave in

  • a certain situation and in a certain

  • waynot to question numbers,

  • accept them as fact.

  • Yes, and this is dangerous. So,

  • when politicians, for example,

  • do good and effective public

  • speakingknown as oratory

  • the information they give

  • could be spuriousthat

  • means false, not correct or

  • inaccurate. But numbers are

  • more persuasivethey make

  • you believe something is true.

  • So, unless youre confident

  • with numbers, youre unlikely

  • to challenge the facts and

  • figures that you are given.

  • So, Sam, if I said to you ten

  • per cent of the ten million

  • people who eat meat have a

  • twenty per cent chance of being

  • five per cent overweight

  • would you challenge that?

  • I’d have to go away and work

  • that out! As I said, Neil, I’m not

  • a numbers person. Even talking

  • about numbers makes

  • me anxious.

  • Well, interestingly, The Why Factor

  • programme explained that girls

  • are more anxious about learning

  • maths, but even if they feel more

  • nervous about maths, they aren’t

  • any worse with numbers than

  • their more confident classmates.

  • It’s just the fear that’s

  • stopping you!

  • Well, maybe, but one bad

  • experience can knock our

  • confidence and ability

  • to use maths.

  • Take comfort from Paula Miles,

  • who teaches statistics to psychology

  • students at St. Andrews University.

  • She told The Why Factor that she

  • thinks there’s no such thing

  • as ‘a numbers person’...

  • There is no such thing as

  • someone who is a 'number person'

  • or not. If we're taught in

  • the right way, then I think we

  • all have the potential to be a

  • numbers person. I'm not saying

  • we're all going to grow up to

  • be mathematicians but we're

  • all going to get to a point where

  • we have the basic numeracy

  • skills that we need to be able

  • to cope in our environment...

  • I feel a little better now! We all

  • have the possibility within

  • usor potentialto be

  • a numbers person.

  • Yes, I think it’s about survival.

  • We want to develop numeracy

  • basic mathematical skillsto

  • use numbers in a particular

  • situation that we are in. We

  • might not be a genius like

  • Einstein, but we know enough

  • to work things out.

  • I wonder if you worked out the

  • answer to my question correctly,

  • Neil? Earlier, I asked about

  • what’s thought to be the largest

  • number in the world - called a

  • googol. How many zeros does

  • it have? A hundred zeros, a

  • thousand zeros, or

  • ten thousand zeros?

  • I said ten thousand zeros.

  • Sorry, Neil. A googol is ten to the

  • 100th powerso a mere 100 zeros.

  • I don’t think I’ll be using that number

  • anytime soon. But I might be using

  • some of the vocabulary weve

  • discussed today, including

  • a numbers person

  • that’s someone who understands

  • numbers and is good as using them

  • and interpreting datanot like us!

  • If you are put off by something, it

  • means you are made to dislike

  • something. And to be primed

  • means told to behave in

  • a certain situation.

  • The skill of effective public speaking

  • is known as oratory. And

  • spurious means false, inaccurate,

  • or not correct.

  • And when we have the possibility

  • within us to do something, we

  • describe it as our potential.

  • And having numeracy means

  • having basic mathematical skills.

  • But now weve reached the

  • number sixsix minutes of English.

  • Thanks very much for

  • listening and goodbye.

  • Bye.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

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