History Main / LudicrousPrecision

** In [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original]], Spock does this all the time, even in situations where the precision of his calculation is obviously not just unnecessary, but impossible. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in "Errand of Mercy":

** Data, from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'', regularly practices this during the show's first season, and is hushed nearly every time. Since then, he's learned that most people don't really care for specifics of such length. Being an android, [[ComputersAreFast Data can count all the seconds]]. Lampshaded in "The Loss":

** From ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'':

** From ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'':

** In ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'', "Hull integrity" is just their replacement word for shields, which would lead to the ship being just fine [[CriticalExistenceFailure until it hit 0%.]] Although components, like warp and weapons can fail at a much earlier time, and as soon as the shields are down, they usually get boarded.

* Used to enhance a BadassBoast by [[BigBad the Makuta]] in one of the ''{{Toys/Bionicle}}'' novels:
-->"... but we both know that there are a thousand ways I could destroy you right now. And 941 of them hurt."

* D'Nerd in ''WesternAnimation/TheBOTSMaster'' often spouted off really precise statistics, though this took a backseat to his being completely incapable of carrying a standard conversation.

For whatever reason, very intelligent people in fiction are incapable of summarizing anything. No matter what you ask them, you'll get [[LiteralGenie exactly what you asked for]], with ''way'' more detail than is necessary. No robot will ever say "it's pretty darned likely" or even "about [[MillionToOneChance one in 8000]] that you'll fail"; they say "There is a 99.9875653 percent chance of success".

See also MouthfulOfPi and GoodWithNumbers. Often used by characters like the ClockKing. Sounds like, but is (usually) unrelated to, ImprobableAimingSkills[[note]]The few times that they are related are when the mass, force, and trajectory of a missile are explicitly and precisely calculated[[/note]]. AndNinetyNineCents is a trope that plays with this one. Compare to YourDaysAreNumbered and the NonNaturalNumberGag. Not to be confused with UnnecessaryTimePrecision.

!!Examples

* ''WebVideo/SandersSides'' has the incredibly {{LiteralMinded}} Logan demonstrate this.

* [[WebVideo/SandersSides]] has the incredibly [[LiteralMinded]] Logan demonstrate this.

** In one episode, Homer hears that the average man lives to be 76.2 years old, and freaks out because, since he's 38.1, his life is half gone. He's more upset when Marge points out that he's actually 39.
** In a WholeEpisodeFlashback, toddler Lisa is asked how old she is. The answer "Three and three-eighths" helps ascertain that she's a genius.

* In ''Literature/{{Momo}}'', one of the grey men giving his age (down to the second). Justified, since they're not human.

* ''{{ComicBook/Norby}}'': In the original ''Literature/NorbyTheMixedUpRobot'', while Jeff and Norby are in Albany's police car, Jeff estimates that they're thirty stories up in the air. In this comic, Norby declares that they're ''exactly'' thirty stories in the air. The added precision is unnecessary, as the characters are worried about falling. Being off by one or two stories isn't going to matter much.

** Amadeus Cho ''always'' talks like that. The one thing he can do is work out the exact probability of pretty much anything, so he likes to do so. He can also use said ability for ImprobableAimingSkills by calculating in an instant bullet ricochet, etc. During the ComicBook/ChaosWar crossover, when almost the entire population of Earth was put into trance, Cho warned that at least 32451 people could die due to things such as being in speeding vehicles or in the middle of surgery.
* Often PlayedForLaughs in the comics of Creator/CarlBarks and Creator/DonRosa, where it became a RunningGag to give the value Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s fortune as [[EleventyZillion some ludicrously huge number]] plus sixteen cents (or similar).
* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Nick Fury tells Xavier that he has resources and a botomless budget to improve Cerebro and help him make contact with Gah Lak Tus. Xavier asks Jean how much money they would need: it would be near the Gross National Product of Germany. Xavier then asks Fury "Define 'bottomless'".

** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:SpecialPages special pages]] definitely qualify, saying the exact number of bytes and articles everything has (especially under "High use pages"). Really ''any'' [[TheWikiRule wiki]] that has these special pages could qualify, but Wikipedia is the biggest of them all, and would be the most extreme example by default.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Have You Seen This Snail?", the "Dirty Bubble Challenge" can be beaten by hitting a paddleball over 29,998,559,671,349 times in a row.

* This is J. Jonah Jameson's gimmick in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''. "I want that report in 18 seconds!" When Peter first met him he was ranting that he'd emailed that Parker kid 76 minutes ago.