Originally Posted by
NickB
If you make the statement that "easyJet tickets are hardly cheap anymore", this is a generic statement which purports to apply to all situations, not the situation of a specific individual.
I consider that a ridiculous suggestion. To me the statement caries no such categorical universal pronouncement.
It is an assessment by the person who made it, that what they describe is the case in their experience, and at their time horizons, routes, etc.
OK: replace "It was awful" with "it was made of vegetable fat rather than dairy products": you get your objective factor but that changes nothing to the point I was making.
It was coupled with the nature of the question. It is unlikely that either party would want people to not like the icecream product. EDITED TO ADD: So it is an entirely different nature of data analysis, limited exceptions, understand the exceptions relative to the main trend, understand the main trend. Rather than a more continuous price figure.
I do not understand what you mean by "averaged answer". Are you suggesting that the plural of anecdote is data and that the expression of the views of a small number of FTers here constitutes a statistically solid, reliable sample on which to base conclusions?
I'm stating that it is impossible/ridiculous to using purely current price data to suggest that the statement "easyJet tickets are hardly cheap anymore" is necessarily invalid.
Which I consider to be a statement made comparing present with previous.
(also: I wonder whether you meant "less" rather than "more" in the second paragraph).
I said what I meant.