Whoever shares the cake should know the recipe. But what happens if you don't understand the recipe correctly or simply interpret it incorrectly? This question is at the center of the criticism of the Green Party group leader in the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt. She had criticized the proportion of streets in Jena named after women and was then branded an arithmetic artist.
| Claims | Fact check |
|---|---|
| Göring-Eckardt calculated incorrectly. The proportion of streets named after women is 9.3 percent, not 1.7 percent. | Wrong - Göring-Eckardt based her percentage on the total number of streets in Jena, not just those named after people. Your calculation is correct considering the context. |
| There are 166 streets named after men and 17 after women in Jena. | False - Göring-Eckardt based her claim on data from 2014. However, according to the Jena city administration, there are (as of 2020) 293 streets named after men and 25 after women. |
| There are a total of 1016 streets in Jena. | Wrong - Göring-Eckardt based her claim on data from 2014. However, according to the Jena city administration (as of 2020) there are a total of 909 streets, alleys and squares. |
| 833 streets in Jena are not named after people. | Wrong - According to the Jena city administration (as of 2020), 591 streets are not named after people. |
Background to the dispute: It all started with a Facebook post by Göring-Eckardt on July 18, 2020
In it she announced that 166 streets in Jena were named after men and only 17 after women, which corresponds to a proportion of 1.7 percent. This was met with incomprehension by some critics. They argued that if one takes the total number of streets named after men and women (183), the proportion of streets named after women is not 1.7 percent, but 9.3 percent. However, this argument ignores an important fact: not all streets are named after people.

The numbers explained
Göring-Eckardt added in a comment under her post that, according to her information, there are a total of 1,016 streets in Jena. Of these, 833 streets are not named after people, but after objects such as plants, animals, cities or regions. Your percentage refers to the total number of streets, not just those named after people. So the critics have overlooked the context of their statement.

There are a total of 909 streets, alleys and squares in the city (as of July 20, 2020). Of these, 591 (approx. 65 percent) do not have personal names. Of these, 293 (approx. 32 percent) are named after men and 25 (approx. 2.75 percent) after women.
Who's to blame?
It is clear that there is a discrepancy between the figures provided by Göring-Eckardt and the Jena city administration. But where does that come from? Göring-Eckardt relies on data from a women's center in Jena . This data is based on city data from 2014. Apparently the number of streets has changed since 2014, which could explain the discrepancy.
Conclusion
The whole controversy is based on a misunderstanding.
Ms Göring-Eckardt may not have expressed herself clearly, which has led to different interpretations of her statement. Instead of asking for clarification, some immediately picked up on the perceived error and criticized her for it. This is a classic example of how communication, especially on social media, can get out of hand.
Social media is a platform where people react quickly and often overreact. Instead of asking questions or asking for clarification, the first reaction is often to “shame” the other person. This type of misunderstanding is very typical of social media and shows how quickly a simple statement can be taken out of context and used against someone.
It also shows how hasty conclusions and the desire to “defeat” the other side can often lead to misunderstandings and conflict, rather than constructive dialogue. We must not forget that we are all just human. Instead of immediately responding with criticism, we can try asking for clarification or understanding the other person's perspective. This is the only way we can have truly constructive conversations and avoid misunderstandings.
We can draw several conclusions from this discussion:
- Numbers can be manipulated, but only if context is ignored.
- It is important to check the sources you rely on.
- Even if there is a discrepancy in the numbers, that doesn't necessarily mean someone is wrong.
Katrin Göring-Eckardt mentioned in her Facebook post that 1.7 percent of the streets in Jena are named after women. She took into account all the streets in the city - including those named after plants, animals, cities or regions.
Some people have criticized her and claimed that she miscalculated. They only counted streets named after men or women and concluded that 9.3 percent of streets were named after women.
In reality, both are true. It just depends on how you look at it: If you only count the streets named after people, then 9.3 percent are named after women. But if you take all the streets in the city, only 1.7 percent are named after women.
So Göring-Eckardt didn't really miscalculate. She just calculated differently by including all of the city's streets in her calculation. You could say it's a question of perspective.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

