Alright, so the other day, I found myself going down a bit of a rabbit hole. You know how it is, one minute you’re minding your own business, the next you’re curious about something kinda out there, like this whole “average penis size by state” thing. Don’t ask me why it popped into my head, it just did. So, I figured, hey, I’ve got some time, let’s see what the internet has to say. My “practice” for the day, if you will.
My First Steps into the Data Jungle
So, I did what anyone would do: I fired up my computer and started searching. Typed in the keywords, hit enter, and boom – a whole slew of results. Lots of articles, lists, maps, you name it. At first, I thought, “Oh, this will be straightforward.” Boy, was I wrong.
I started clicking on a few links, you know, the ones that looked halfway decent. And that’s when things got a bit messy. It was like every site had its own version of the truth. One place would have a certain set of numbers, another would have figures that were totally different. It was all over the shop.
Then you’ve got the ones where the numbers looked suspiciously similar across multiple sites, but with absolutely no mention of where they actually got this information. It’s like, did they all just copy from the same unsourced place? That was my immediate thought.
- A lot of sites felt very clickbait-y, you know? Big headlines, flashy graphics, not much substance.
- The methodologies, if they were even mentioned, were super vague. “Surveys say…” Okay, what surveys? Who did they ask? How many people?
- Trying to trace back to an original, credible source? Good luck with that. It felt like chasing ghosts.
Digging Deeper (or Trying To)
I spent a good chunk of time trying to find something, anything, that looked like actual research. You know, something from a university, or a medical journal, or some kind of reputable study. It was tough going. Most of what I found just seemed to be quoting other websites, which were probably quoting other websites. A big ol’ circle of questionable data.
It really makes you wonder who’s putting this stuff out there and why. Is it just for clicks? Are people just making it up? I even saw a few forums where folks were arguing about the numbers, each person linking to a different dodgy website as “proof.” It was a bit of a circus, to be honest.
My “practice” quickly turned from trying to find the data to trying to figure out if any of the data was real. I got pretty skeptical, pretty fast. You see a few sites that look like they were put together in five minutes, all spouting “facts,” and your internal alarm bells just start ringing.
So, What Did I Learn From This Little Expedition?
Well, mainly that finding reliable information on this particular topic is a real pain. It’s not like looking up, say, historical facts or something easily verifiable. This kind of data, if it’s even collected seriously, seems to be buried deep or just not widely shared in a way you can trust.
My main takeaway is to be super careful about what you read online, especially for these kinds of lists and rankings. A lot of it seems to be just for show, or to get people talking. It’s a good reminder that just because it’s on the internet, doesn’t make it true. I wouldn’t be quoting any of those numbers I saw, that’s for sure. My practice session basically concluded with a big shrug and a realization that some internet “facts” are probably best left unexplored, or at least taken with a massive grain of salt. It was an interesting way to spend an afternoon, though, I’ll give it that. Made me think, if nothing else.
