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Is that a lot, or is that a little?
The answer to the question is often far from clear-cut, and we may be easily misled — by others and by ourselves
Imagine you have ended up in a foreign country that you have never visited before. You have no local currency on you but, remarkably, the taxi driver accepts your credit card. You ask him how much he would charge you to take you to your hotel, which you know is about 8km from where you are now. He says that would cost 250 monetan. Is that expensive or cheap?
Without anything to compare this with, the amount is clearly meaningless. Knowing the exchange rate might help at least convert it into your home currency. But perhaps you rarely take a taxi at home, so even knowing how many pounds, euros or dollars a moneta is might still not tell you the whole story. And even then, perhaps the going rate for an 8km taxi ride in this country is 50 monetan, and the taxi driver is ripping you off.
No certainty without context
Numbers give us a sense of certainty, but they don’t tell us anything if there is no context. In a foreign country with a currency we are unfamiliar with, we are keenly aware of this. If we cannot compare the price of one good or service with what other goods and prices cost, with what a similar…
