Comments on: In defense of PowerPoint

By: Posolxstvo the First

Posolxstvo the First — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:05:29 +0000

Not to flog the dead horse too much, but the following excerpts are from Dictionary.com page on “factoid”:

fac·toid /ˈfæktɔɪd/ – noun
1. an insignificant or trivial fact.
2. something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised esp. to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.

And further…

“Usage Note: The -oid suffix normally imparts the meaning “resembling, having the appearance of” to the words it attaches to. Thus the anthropoid apes are the apes that are most like humans (from Greek anthrōpos, “human being”). In some words -oid has a slightly extended meaning—”having characteristics of, but not the same as,” as in humanoid, a being that has human characteristics but is not really human. Similarly, factoid originally referred to a piece of information that appears to be reliable or accurate, as from being repeated so often that people assume it is true. The word still has this meaning in standard usage. Seventy-three percent of the Usage Panel accepts it in the sentence It would be easy to condemn the book as a concession to the television age, as a McLuhanish melange of pictures and factoids which give the illusion of learning without the substance. · Factoid has since developed a second meaning, that of a brief, somewhat interesting fact, that might better have been called a factette. The Panelists have less enthusiasm for this usage, however, perhaps because they believe it to be confusing. Only 43 percent of the panel accepts it in Each issue of the magazine begins with a list of factoids, like how many pounds of hamburger were consumed in Texas last month. Many Panelists prefer terms such as statistics, trivia, useless facts, and just plain facts in this sentence.”

So I guess we’re both sorta right on the matter.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:26:01 +0000

Hmm… I think of a “factoid” simply as a an information unit that communicates one or more facts. In the first bullet above, the “fact” at the core might be something like, “The earth’s surface receives an average of 36.9 trillion megajoules of energy from the sun every minute.” Making it into a “factoid” means wrapping it in a meaningful context to make it stickier, more comprehensible, perhaps more persuasive – without distorting the core fact of course.

By: Posolxstvo the First

Posolxstvo the First — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:08:37 +0000

Good points. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we don’t need “factoids.” We need *facts*. A factoid is something that looks and acts like a fact. But it isn’t necessarily a fact. Just as a planetoid is a planet like object, but it isn’t a planet.

“32% of all physicians in the US have prescribed themselves painkillers, according to a recent survey.”

Sounds authoritative, but it is complete BS. Just made up by me minutes ago. That’s a factoid.

I know, I know — current parlance uses “factoid” and “fact” interchangeably. But I suspect that is further indication of the problem.