[ExI] An anomalous point

[Amara Graps]

Despite my knowing the language, living where I am now is more
than ever like living in a foreign country. Sometimes I am struck
at how anomalous the US really is.

Steve Jurvetson notes the outlier position of the US in a plot
of religiosity versus wealth (per capita GDP normalized):

http://flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2275614130/

which brings to my mind Anders Sandberg's plot of Freedom (from
the Heritage Freedom Index) against its number of imprisonments
(from World Prison Brief numbers), where the US is again a most
striking outlier point:

"The Best Prisons that Money Can Buy"
http://www.aleph.se/andart/archives/2006/02/index.html

Living in an anomalous point is pretty scary.

Amara
-- 

Amara Graps, PhD      www.amara.com
Research Scientist, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado