Today's Fan Confidence Poll comes with a handy graph:

WOOOOOO... FANCY!

So the basic thing to note is that the blue line is the actual running average from week to week. The red and yellow lines are the average plus and minus the confidence interval to give us the upper and lower bounds, respectively. Super basic explanation is that when the red and yellow lines are closer to the blue line, our little poll is more likely to be accurate. Otherwise, our average is pretty much the blue line, but because of our sample, the ACTUAL Fan Confidence could be anywhere in between the red and yellow lines.

Now you can pass graduate level statistics.

Also, while you're looking at it, you should vote in this week's fan confidence poll. BOILERPLATE:

The rules are simple. On a scale of 0 to 10, 0 being no confidence at all, 10 being absolute confidence, How confident are you in the San Diego Padres organization?

"Confidence" is just about anything you want to interpret it as. The front office, the future prospects, the play on the field, the park, etc etc etc.

Do you think we'll ever touch 8 even though we have the best team in the National League? I don't know. What do you think? Maybe.

If you don't exercise your right to vote, then you have no right to complain, except for if you're a complainer in general, in which case I may hide your comments out of principle.