[Yes I know it’s not a film. It’s a book. But it’s a TV film as well. So that counts. Please don’t be so picky]
Regular readers of the Bluffington Post (and that is, of course, all of you hem hem — Ed) will recall a Twitter campaign (with the hashtag #Don’tKillSeanBean) to try to safeguard the celluloid lifespan of the popular all-action hunk actor — for details see Where Angels Fear To Tread (87), in August 2014.
Now comes exciting news of an important step forward in this major issue de nos jours, with a splendid blog post from Dave Steele, in which he examines the evidence for the widespread belief that Sean Bean Always Dies In (or At) The End.
The indefatigable Mr Steele has amassed details of SB’s roles in film and television — and indeed Mr Bean fails to stay alive until the closing credits in a startling thirty (30) instances.
Mr S starts by analysing the cause of death (accident 6, homicide 23, orcicide 1), and then moves on to look at the methods used, as follows —
- cut to throat with knife (1)
- stabbed with anchor (1)
- stabbed with sword (1)
- stabbed with knife (1)
- stabbed with bayonet (1)
- fall from cliff after being chased by cows (1)
- drowned in bog (1)
- shot with arrows (1)
- crushed (1)
- hung (1) (I think he means “hanged” — Ed) (I hope he means “hanged” — Ed)
- frozen (1)
- torn apart by horses (1)
- stopped being imagined (1)
- beheaded (1)
- blown up (2)
- bludgeoned with fists (2)
- shot with gun (12)
….. as illustrated in this impressive pie chart (always adds an air of respectability) —
As Mr S says, there may be some money to be made in a line of Sean Bean-specific bullet-proof vests.
So far, then, there seems to be pretty compelling evidence for the Sean-Bean-Always-Dies thesis.
However, Mr S has unearthed a further 45 roles in which SB does not die (although admittedly 14 of these are the Sharpe TV films, in which clearly he survives in at least 13 — otherwise the next one wouldn’t be very interesting, would it? Please try to keep up).
(Rather disturbingly, the average box office takings for a dead SB role are $54m compared with only $42m when he survives — one hopes that this is merely correlation rather than causation).
The (semi-) serious point of Mr S’s analysis is that the Sean-Bean-Always-Dies thesis is a good example of confirmation bias — the phenomenon whereby an initial observation (which rapidly becomes a belief) is reinforced by further examples, whilst contrary examples are ignored.
So what? you may say (though not in the Editor’s hearing please). Well (surprisingly perhaps), there is a direct application to this week’s Business Bit.
Most of us are prone to confirmation bias. We start with a belief (eg “people won’t pay more than £X for my product”), and we take note of (and indeed actively look out for) every instance which reinforces that belief. Any cases which don’t fit the belief are ignored.
Why is this dangerous?
- Business conditions change all the time
- Confirmation bias, on the other hand, encourages us to stick with the same assumptions…..
- ….. and we usually don’t even realise that we suffer from it
How can this be changed? Well, it’s very difficult to challenge your own beliefs — but if you regularly sought the views of other people, with experience, whose opinions you respect, it would help you guard against the death spiral of confirmation bias.
Maybe seven other business owners — meeting once a month — in a confidential but challenging setting — as a TAB Board….. if that sounds appealing, you know where to come!
Enough serious stuff already.
Here’s a few news items you may have missed —
- HM Revenue and Customs is “staffed by large cohorts of Eeyores”, according to Mr Andrew Tyrie MP, chairman of the Treasury select committee
- the New York Times recently published a recipe for sausage rolls, and noted that they are “historically consumed by British aristocrats on Boxing Day”. A series of tweets from Blighty followed, including “have our sausage rolls, but please take Black Friday back”
- Asda have cancelled Black Friday (27th November), after the importation (across the Pond) of this dubious custom last year resulted in unseemly scuffles over cut-price tellies and other items. Whether the supermarket chain was influenced by sausage roll tweets is unrecorded
- the British cucumber industry is threatened by falling prices
- Mr Gordon Brown (in a speech to the Child Poverty Action Group) admitted that he was “not very good at statistics”, and claimed that this is an occupational hazard of Chancellors of the Exchequer
- the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (who ruled in the 6th century) pre-empted IKEA by 1,500 years — he used to export “flat pack” churches (with columns, pulpits, and altar tables made of marble) by ship to Africa. Unfortunately the columns, etc, were very heavy and a lot of the ships sank — the contents of one are to be exhibited at the Ashmolean next summer
- if you have tears, prepare to shed them now — Mr Lewis Hamilton, the F1 racing driver, who lives in Monaco
for tax reasons, admitted that he was “worn out by days of partying and drinking”, after he crashed his £1.5million Pagani Zonda (a 760bhp V12 capable of 217mph) into three parked cars in Monaco at 3:30am. Mr H was appointed a road safety ambassador by FIA in March….. - ….. while in other tax avoidance news —
- more than 100 professional footy players “face ruin” after the
tax scams“tax efficient film investment schemes”, in which they invested millions of spondulicks, were successfully challenged by HMRC (that should cheer up the Eeyores a bit — Ed) - and the independent retailers in Crickhowell (in Wales) are forming themselves into an offshore company in the Isle of Man in order to emulate Facebook’s
tax avoidanceefficient tax affairs….. - ….. meanwhile the Happiness Research Institute, in Copenhagen, report that giving up Facebook boosts happiness and reduces angst and loneliness
- more than 100 professional footy players “face ruin” after the
- the latest insurance industry statistics reveal that Lexus and Land Rover drivers have more than 50% more “at fault” claims than other drivers (the figures for Pagani Zonda drivers don’t appear to be recorded — Ed)
Two items in Columbo Corner this week.
- Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, has ruled that the word “bollocks” can be used before the watershed, but only “in a comic context” (I just thought you might want to know that — Ed)
- a study by the Dementia Research Centre (at Uni College London) has found that a “warped sense of humour” could be an early sign of dementia….. (memo to self — must be careful — Ed)
Have a great weekend — and if you see Sean Bean, tell him to keep a good lookout…..
Cheers for now
Tom
For a light-hearted look at some of what TAB does, have a look at this animation
I presently run three Boards –
Dark Blue (for people who run large businesses) – one spare seat
Light Blue (for people who run large businesses) — one spare seat
White Board (for people who run fast-growing businesses) — three spare seats
“What did you say it was?” he asked. “Tigger”. “Ah!” said Eeyore. “He’s just come,” explained Piglet. “Ah!” said Eeyore again. He thought for a long time and then said: “When is he going?” (A A Milne)
“By the mystic regulation/Of our dark Association,/Ere you open conversation/With another kindred soul,/You must eat a sausage-roll!” (W S Gilbert, The Grand Duke)
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in the latest styles from Old Navy, and laid him in a shopping cart, because they were waiting in line to get into Walmart” (Adam Kotsko)
“A cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out as good for nothing” (Samuel Johnson)
“Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive” (even if you’re not called Sean Bean — Ed) (George Bernard Shaw)
“Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamp post — for support, not illumination” (Vin Scully)
“In ancient times they had no statistics, so they had to fall back on lies” (Stephen Leacock)
“If your experiment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better experiment” (Ernest Rutherford
tommortonharrogate 