[Taxacom] Google Trends

[Jim Croft]

Yes, I figured Yule stuff was responsible for the sharp December
/January dips, and had guessed at the summer holiday depression while
people were outside doing real things.

What I wanted to talk about but could not dare on a public forum was
what I perceived as deliberate policy antagonistic to biodiversity
treating it as an impediment to 'development', and this on top of a
general dumbing down of government attitude and public discourse in
western democracies, especially in matters relating to science and the
environment.  I mean, just look at
http://www.google.com/trends?q=britney&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
Is this civilization in free-fall decline spelling the end of
humanity, or what!?  :)

( !!!  I can not believe I actually just made that query! )

The other problem with these trend graphs is that it is very likely
that they have been 'normalized' in some way, but just how is totally
opaque.

jim

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 3:51 PM, Mike Dallwitz
<m.j.dallwitz at netspeed.com.au> wrote:
> Jim Croft wrote:
>
>> 'biodiversity' ... note the steady and inexorable decline in interest.
>> This shows the same general pattern as interest in 'insects' - a rigourous
>> annual cycle with a sharp dip in jan/feb.
>
> I think that this sharp dip is actually Christmas. There is usually a
> smaller one at Thanksgiving. The broad dip in June-July probably represents
> the northern summer holidays.
>
> This pattern of dips, and the general decline, applies to most 'serious'
> subjects - try physics, statistics, science, poetry, etc. 'Frivolous'
> subjects usually show an increase over time. They tend to show slight peaks
> at holiday periods (or large peaks in a few cases, e.g. for the word
> 'Thanksgiving' itself).
>
> As the graphs show _relative_ numbers, you can't tell whether there is an
> absolute decline in interest in 'serious' subjects, either overall or at
> holidays. You can't even tell whether there is a decline in interest by
> 'serious' users, as most such people may have used the Internet to the
> fullest extent for many years, whereas the number of 'frivolous' users may
> be growing rapidly.
>
> Another problem is that the statistics apply to words, not subjects, and
> fashions in words may change rapidly. In particular, I think that
> 'biodiversity' is a buzz/weasel word.
>
> --
> Mike Dallwitz
> Contact information: http://delta-intkey.com/contact/dallwitz.htm
> DELTA home page: http://delta-intkey.com
>



-- 
_________________
Jim Croft
jim.croft at gmail.com

"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in
order to enjoy ourselves."
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (1889-1951)