<P> False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often long endure; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, as every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness; and when this is done, one path towards error is closed and the road to truth is often at the same time opened . </P> <P>--Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871), Vol. 2, 385 . </P> <P> One usable definition is: "Misuse of Statistics: Using numbers in such a manner that - either by intent, or through ignorance or carelessness - the conclusions are unjustified or incorrect ." The "numbers" include misleading graphics discussed elsewhere . The term is not commonly encountered in statistics texts and no authoritative definition is known . It is a generalization of lying with statistics which was richly described by examples from statisticians 60 years ago . </P> <P> The definition confronts some problems (some are addressed by the source): </P>

How many types of statistics do we have