Numbers never lie. The people who wield them, however, often do.

This is the most intense game of manipulation ever played by humanity and one that will continue until humans are extinct. We love numbers. We covet their honesty and hold them in higher esteem than their shady counterparts, words. While words inherently have the ability to be deceitful, numbers, we often think, ride on high moral horses. They can't lie to us because they're mathematical progeny; results born from formulas and algorithms that work. How could someone possibly twist an honest integer into an interpretation? How could they use an individual of such strong character for their evil ends?

We've seen it before. In video games and movies, comics, novels, and generally any form of artistic expression. People bend numbers to do their bidding with trickery, not with corruption. Like the epic White Knight, numbers are incorruptable, but, they are not the brightest of the bunch either.

Dropping the metaphor for a moment, numbers have no intelligence. They are tools to be used, not individuals who provide services. The intelligence in numbers comes from the human source. The one doing the manipulating.

And back on the metaphorical track, let's explore how the White Knight (numbers) can get totally pwnd by an evil witch named Israndi (say, Pollsters and Retail Stores). The White Knight is, as usual, on a quest for his love who happens to be, as usual, trapped in a castle. Along the roadside he spots an old woman and asks her, because he's lacking in the mental department, where the next castle is. The old woman, seeing potential in this 'hero', tells him the castle where a princess is held is straight up the road, atop a high cliff. She tells him he must not tarry in slaying every individual in the castle, because at nightfall they will all turn into hungery beasts and tear him limb from limb. He must get them while they are vulnerable.

And so off the knight goes, racing the sunset. He pulls up to the castle in his white ride and dismounts. Casually, he asks for entrance into the castle. The guards, suspecting he is of the highest moral standing (he is the White Knight) bow graciously and unlock the door.

At which point, the White Knight, driven by the old woman, stabs them in their necks.

And so he enters and a vicious killiing spree ensues until there is but one individual left in the castle, the King. The Knight approaches the King and asks where his princess is being held. The king, clearly perturbed by all the violence, says that there is no princess there. That his only daughter, a hideous maiden, was stolen from him by an old witch only days prior. He informs the White Knight of the search party that went out and found only the remains of his beloved (and hideous) daughter. They found an old woman, and after questioning her, realized that she was the witch. Not wanting to give away their knowledge, they sought to leave and return with more men. The witch, however, had other plans, and killed all but one of them, who was quite the runner.

And so the Knight learns of his misdeeds. His high moral walls were breached by the witch's trickery. She prodded in all the right places to make him do evil when he thought he was doing good.

This is the way it is with numbers. Pollsters know that if you ask the right questions, you'll get the "right" answers. That's why they're paid to craft surveys in such a way as to give the result a biased outcome.

But Pollsters aren't all evil. And they aren't the only ones who do it.

Numbers are used for determining value. Prices, therefore, tend to be a good indicator of the quality of a good or service. The price of a good or service will generally determine its value to the consumer. However, prices can be misleading.

Jack up the prices on a nice-looking but terrible tasting beverage, and you may find that demand for the product actually goes up. Why? Because when something is pricey, people have a hard time psychologically sorting the actual good from the chunk of change they used to purchase it.

In other words, does that sandwich taste better because it is of superior quality? Or does it taste better because it cost you 35$?

Keep your eyes open for what people try to do with numbers. And remember, numbers don't lie.

People do.