Sigma Significance

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." -Mohandas K. Gandhi

In the world of statistics, a result is referred to as "statistically significant" if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. So the amount of proof that is needed to accept that an event has happened due to chance is known as the significance level.

In some fields this statistical significance is measured in units of "σ" (sigma). It is meant to show how much variation there is from the average or expected value.

Wow, I actually remembered something from statistics class in college AND managed to bore you at the same time.

My purpose here is not to teach statistics nor is it to bore you. My purpose is to let you know that the significance of one may seem insignificant on the surface. But what you do in life matters to so many others in unexpected ways.

There are variations on this idea and many times put into movies. Think of "Its A Wonderful Life" or the book "The Butterfly Effect"; your life matters in ways you may never fully realize, but it does.

What this means to me is that in statistics the value of one is generally considered insignificanct. But in our every day lives, significance of anything has to start with one, then two, three, four, ...

It means that you matter, you are significant. Everything you do puts other things in motion that cause very significant things. A pebble in the water creates ever increasing rings or waves. These spread out from the center growing ever larger. Eventually these waves wash ashore a sea shell found by a child, brightening and changing that child's life forever.

Yes, you matter even though it may seem insignificant. Remember what Gandhi said, "Whatever you do will be insignificant...", but everything you do will be important.