Fun With Precision

Wikipedia on the demographics of Brooklin:

As of the census of 2000, there were 841 people, 371 households, and 244 families residing in the town. The population density was 18.1/km² (46.8/mi²). There were 697 housing units at an average density of 15.0/km² (38.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.45% White, 0.12% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.36% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races.

A little multiplication reveals that 0.12 percent of 841 is approximately 1.0092, so I'm going to assume that the town has one black resident who comprises .118906 percent of the total population.

Comments

God bless Wikipedia and the U.S. Census.

But how do you explain this, Mr. Yglesias?

"According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 106.7 km² (41.2 mi²). 46.5 km² (18.0 mi²) of it is land and 60.2 km² (23.2 mi²) of it (56.40%) is water."

That's 56% water, 44% land. Which equals: 100% mud? More ponds than you can shake a stick at? A fractal shoreline with an insane amount of coves? Or does Brooklin claim a strip of ocean water that extends out as far as international waters?

Posted by lampwick | July 2, 2007 5:11 PM

My understanding is that the census is also careful to present its data in such a way that it would be difficult to determine the characteristics of individuals or very small groups. So for instance, it wouldn't report income in such a way that you could figure out how much your neighbor is making. I don't know how that plays out with race at the town level, but it's something that might be affecting the data.

Posted by minderbender | July 2, 2007 5:25 PM

Is the Census Bureau really concerned with inadvertently alerting residents to the complexion of their neighbors?

Posted by phil | July 2, 2007 5:28 PM

Mindbender - I didn't know that about the census; it makes sense.

I don't see how that affects the issue here, though. Either there is one African-American in Brooklin, or the number 0.118906 is an obfuscatory fiction, or Brooklin is still operating under the famous 0.118906 Compromise of 1789.

Posted by lampwick | July 2, 2007 5:31 PM

FYI, Fox News has announced that Bush is commuting Libby's sentence.

Posted by otto | July 2, 2007 5:40 PM

... 0.12 percent of 841 is approximately 1.0092 ...

0.12 has 2 significant digits, so the result of multiplying 0.12 percent of 841 is 1.0 (rounded to 2 significant digits), not 1.01, 1.009, or 1.0092.

Posted by alkali | July 2, 2007 6:01 PM

Jesus. I mean, look, I'm a laid back guy. I have no particular claim to being cool or successful. I'd like to think that I'm not the type to make fun of other people. I've certainly done my share of uncool activities.

But if you're peering over the latest census figures as you update the Wikipedia entry for Brooklin, Maine, you're a fucking loser.

Posted by Freddie | July 2, 2007 6:02 PM

Let's see: Matt carved out a career for himself doing something he enjoys doing and would do for free; he's eating lobster at his rich dad's Maine summer home -- sounds like a winner to me.

I do think it's funny how blindingly white the place is though. There were probably more blacks at Dalton, for heaven's sake.

Posted by Fred | July 2, 2007 6:28 PM

Speaking of ethnic diversity, and the lack thereof in Brooklin, ME, Matt might be interested in Sailer's latest essay on Robert Putnam's findings about the effect of diversity on American communities (e.g., "the more diverse a community is, the less likely its inhabitants are to trust anyone – from their next-door neighbour to the mayor...", as a Financial Times writer summarized it).

Posted by Fred | July 2, 2007 6:32 PM

Well I was actually referring to whatever delightful person actually created the entry in the first place.

Posted by Freddie | July 2, 2007 6:42 PM

The Constitution makes the Census an "enumeration" rather than an estimation, so that level of precision is reasonable, as long as you keep in mind the caveat that that's what the Census Bureau could find.

Posted by Steve Sailer | July 2, 2007 7:03 PM

Freddie, the census information on that page was generated/updated automatically, as with many other similar pages for US cities.

Posted by fp | July 2, 2007 7:09 PM

I see.

Of course, you're also a loser if you are creating a wikipedia entry on, say, an obscure character from Zelda.

But I'm calling these people losers in a loving way.

Posted by Freddie | July 2, 2007 8:05 PM

"Matt might be interested in Sailer's latest essay"

HAHAHAHA! Fred, you're so funny.

Posted by Reality Man | July 2, 2007 11:14 PM

"HAHAHAHA! Fred, you're so funny."

My father used to call your sort of behavior 'laughing at internal stimuli'. Care to share what's funny with the rest of the class? You do know Matt is an occasional reader of Sailer's work?

Posted by Fred | July 2, 2007 11:44 PM

I'm going to assume that the town has one black resident who comprises .118906 percent of the total population.

Reminds me of a black standup I saw at the Edinburgh Festival (Edinburgh being a famously non-black town):

"Yeah, I got in yesterday. Went out last night to check out the black scene. The three of us had a great time... You have to understand that the black community in Edinburgh is basically one guy. He's called Buddy. And if you don't like Buddy, you're a racist."

Posted by ajay | July 3, 2007 7:18 AM

For the commenter upstream who wanted to know why Brooklin, ME is 56% water, yes, it is because the entire coast of Maine, and of much of the East Coast North of the Hudson, is indeed very indented. Maine has over 3,000 miles of coastline, for instance.

Posted by Ben Cronin | July 3, 2007 8:59 AM