Ridiculous

Having a bad day? No wonder. According to one scientist, today, January 23, is the gloomiest day of 2006. Cliff Arnall, a health psychologist at the University of Cardiff in Wales, has devised a formula that combines personal and seasonal factors to calculate the year's emotional low point.

Caught this story in today's paper. The same story made the rounds last year. It's utterly ridiculous. According to this "scientist," the variables are weather (W), debt (D), monthly salary (S), time since Christmas (T), time since failure to quit a bad habit (Q), low motivational levels (M) and the need to take action (N). Sounds reasonable enough. But now let's look at his "formula."

Gloominess = [W + (D-S)xTxQ] / [M x N]

So we take time (since Christmas) times time (since failure) times money. So we have a quantity that is measured in $ x days squared. Then we add this to a weather variable, which is measured in . . . ?

Then we take this already meaningless concoction and further divide it by "low motivational levels" and "the need to take action." I'm unclear on how either of these can be measured well enough to allow any mathematical comparisons to be made between January 23 and January 20 or January 26 ... or July or November or any other random date I pull out of a hat. Furthermore, why do we divide by them; why not multiply?

I am appalled that some idiot can get this "research" published. What a freakin' joke.