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flamboyant-dipshit t1_j0vfz4m wrote

Reply to comment by AttackOficcr in Iguana causes power outage in Florida town for third time this year | CNN by GZAofTheMidwest

Honestly, having followed this for years: It could mean either one as people are really bad at +/- percents as they are not communicative.

33% less than 6 is 4. 50% more than 4 is 6, but people transcribe them all the time and will say 50% less when they mean 50% more than the smaller number and in their mind the inverse is implied.

I should add, sometimes it's on purpose because "50% is bigger than 33% and I want to make it sound more dramatic". What really annoys me, though, is when you hear "<something we should be worried about> has decreased 115% over the last 3 years!!!" Uhh, no, that's unpossible.

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AttackOficcr t1_j0ycs89 wrote

That can happen when it's a rate of growth going negative.

For example, the population growth rate of a rebounding endangered animal suddenly dipping after an extreme weather event. Like a flock of whooping crane getting caught in a tornado.

If the whooping crane population grew in size 20% last year, but decreased in size by 5% this year. Then the rate of population growth decreased by 125% (the population growth rate went negative).

The same could be said for inflation rates or stock growth rates if a positive trend suddenly reverses.

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