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A comment on How to make fake data look meaningful. Parent comment

Re:How to make fake data look meaningful by Terr_ on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @05:49PM (#6771798)
Just to explain this a bit, it has to do with relative growth/shrinkage and the base of the positional-numbering system you're using. If you have a random starting value (X) multiplied by a second random factor (Y), most of the time the result will start with a one.

You're basically throwing darts at logarithmic graph paper! The area covered by squares which "start with 1" is larger than the area covered by square which "start with 9".

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Re:How to make fake data look meaningful by function_seven on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @06:53PM (#6772156)
> You're basically throwing darts at logarithmic graph paper! The area covered by squares which "start with 1" is larger than the area covered by square which "start with 9".

Best explanation for Benford's Law I've ever seen. I've always had a rough understanding of the "why" of it, but this really drives the point home.

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