r/pics Aug 12 '21

The majority of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is discarded fishing gear.

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u/I--Pathfinder--I Aug 12 '21

well 46% isn’t the majority but i think he could mean that of all groups of trash in the ocean it is the most.

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u/Alis451 Aug 12 '21

he used the % for just the nets, and misquoted the NatGeo article, but more than half of all garbage is indeed fishing gear which includes the nets which are 46% of the total by themselves

The study also found that fishing nets account for 46 percent of the trash, with the majority of the rest composed of other fishing industry gear, including ropes, oyster spacers, eel traps, crates, and baskets.

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u/GodlessHippie Aug 12 '21

Plurality was the word they were looking for

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u/swinging_ship Aug 12 '21

Plurality and simple majority are the same thing. I never specified an absolute majority but a majority nonetheless.

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u/_Apatosaurus_ Aug 12 '21

We all know that majority almost always means absolute majority. If that's not what OP meant, they should specify that they meant relative majority or plurality. Or, they could have included a percentage.

It's possible to technically be correct but also be intentionally misleading.

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u/swinging_ship 28d ago

When does majority almost always mean absolute? We call pluralities in politics and racial percentages majorities all the time because nobody uses plurality.

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u/GodlessHippie Aug 12 '21

Fair enough! I always think of majority as 50+1% and plurality as the most out of all options but you’re right, simple majority is the same as plurality

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u/swinging_ship Aug 12 '21

No other material makes up more than 46% making 46% the majority

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u/PM_ME_U_BOTTOMLESS_ Aug 12 '21

no, the plurality

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u/Its_Nitsua Aug 12 '21

Take 5 seconds and google majority and its definitions