Simpson's paradox says that even if a vector L 1 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {L_{1}}}} (in orange in figure) has a smaller slope than another vector B 1 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {B_{1}}}} (in blue), and L 2 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {L_{2}}}} has a smaller slope than B 2 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {B_{2}}}} , the sum of the two vectors L 1 → + L 2 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {L_{1}}}+{\overrightarrow {L_{2}}}} can potentially still have a larger slope than the sum of the two vectors B 1 → + B 2 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {B_{1}}}+{\overrightarrow {B_{2}}}} , as shown in the example. For this to occur one of the orange vectors must have a greater slope than one of the blue vectors (here L 2 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {L_{2}}}} & B 1 → {\displaystyle {\overrightarrow {B_{1}}}} ), and these will generally be longer than the alternatively subscripted vectors — thereby dominating the overall comparison.