[craigzucchini]

I don't dissagree, but the nature of them being "far, far, from perfect" includes things that don't fall under the actions or behaviour of a person and end up being fixed for a period of time, making the comparison in some ways apt. Assuming you don't explore further, knowing someone's number and using it to characterize a person is at least close to as stupid as age discrimination or racial. I'd grant you that there is a higher liklihood than others that the number is informed by poor decision making, but it's equally likely that the number is low due to unforseen circumstances.