Now why do people who are normally rational and reasonable act like mindless coat hangers when faced with statistics? For example, Bill O'Reilly, who I think is one of the brighter guys on TV, seems to be completely intimidated by what he calls "the stats."

I don’t know. But I’ll take a stab at it.

First, statistics imply preparation and interpretation by experts.

Second, the jargon of statistics is difficult for the lay person to understand.

Third, the material involved may be outside one’s own field.

And fourth, statistics are expressed in numbers, implying exactitude.

But are statistics all these things? Maybe. Maybe not.

Here are several published statistics I’ve run across in the last few years. You tell me.

1 There are 30,000,000 rats in this country.

2 There are 4% more crows in California this year than there were last year. And

3 Cocaine use in this country fell by 80% during Clinton’s first three years in office.

Hmmmmm. Weeeeell, OK. Come to think of it, maybe there were six billion children who went to sleep hungry every night at a time when there were only three billion people total living on the planet. After all, isn’t that the statistic the professor had in her notes?

Think about it.