Statistics began life as a tool through which the state could view society, but gradually developed into something that academics, civic reformers and businesses had a stake in. But for many data analytics firms, secrecy surrounding methods and sources of data is a competitive advantage that they will not give up voluntarily. | |
A post-statistical society is a potentially frightening proposition, not because it would lack any forms of truth or expertise altogether, but because it would drastically privatise them. Statistics are one of many pillars of liberalism, indeed of Enlightenment. The experts who produce and use them have become painted as arrogant and oblivious to the emotional and local dimensions of politics. No doubt there are ways in which data collection could be adapted to reflect lived experiences better. But the battle that will need to be waged in the long term is not between an elite-led politics of facts versus a populist politics of feeling. It is between those still committed to public knowledge and public argument and those who profit from the ongoing disintegration of those things. | |
— William Davies | |
From his article: “How Statistics Lost Their Power“ | |
Appearing in: “The Guardian“, dtd: January 19, 2017 | |
I found it at: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-statistics-lost-their-power-and-why-we-should-fear-what-comes-next | |
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On This Day In: | |
2019 | Even When We Have A Criminal / Dangerous / Incompetent President |
2018 | But It Keeps Trying |
Blue Wave, But Not Blue Tsunami | |
2017 | The Promise At Risk |
2016 | Or As Will Come In Time |
2015 | It Is Another Beautiful Day At The Red Pony Bar And Continual Soiree… |
2014 | Days And Years |
2013 | Currency And Transport |
2012 | Something Which Did Not Exist Before |
2011 | True Magic |
Posts Tagged ‘Enlightenment’
Profit From Ongoing Disintegration
Posted in Politics, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Data Analytics, Enlightenment, How Statistics Lost Their Power, Pillar of Liberalism, Politics, Post-Statistical Society, Privatized Truth, Public Argument, Public Knowledge, Quotes, Statistics, The Guardian, William Davies on November 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »
In The Moment
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Enlightenment, Expectations, Herman Kauz, Philosophy, Push-Hands, Push-Hands: The Handbook For Non-Competitive Tai Chi Practice With A Partner, Quotes, Reality, State Of Mind on July 21, 2020| Leave a Comment »
As for increasing or furthering your understanding of reality, if you practice push-hands without attachment to results and without expectations of any sort you will gradually come to a state of functioning without the use of your discriminating intellect. Your mind will not and really cannot draw distinctions of any sort as you push, because your reactions in attack and defense will then slow or stop altogether. It is this state of mind, of being fully in the moment, which prepares the ground for flashes of enlightenment or of seeing the world more clearly. | |
— Herman Kauz | |
From his book: “Push-Hands: The Handbook For Non-Competitive Tai Chi Practice With A Partner“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2019 | I Will Try Again |
Original Chips | |
2018 | Still Blogging |
2017 | Reliable Vision |
2016 | Still Walking |
2015 | Steps |
2014 | To Be Greatly Good |
2013 | Limited Capacity |
2012 | Two Ear Ticklers |
Justification | |
2011 | To Avail The Nation |
Foundational Pillar Of Civilized Discourse
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Assumptions, Belief, Civilization, Civilized Discourse, Clock Watchers: The Beautiful Benefits of Contemplating Doom, Enlightenment, Facts, Logical Argument, Philosophy, Quotes, Values, Wired Magazine, Wired.com on December 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The Enlightenment sought to establish reason as the foundational pillar of civilized discourse. In this conception, logical argument matters, and the truth of a statement is tested by examination of values, assumptions, and facts, not by how many people believe it. Cyber-enabled information warfare threatens to replace these pillars of logic and truth with fantasy and rage. | |
— Herbert Lin | |
As quoted by: Virginia Heffernan | |
In her article: “Clock Watchers: The Beautiful Benefits of Contemplating Doom“ | |
In Wired Magazine, dtd: Apr 2019 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2018 | Seven Minutes. Not Six, Not Eight |
2017 | Falling Forward One Step At A Time |
2016 | And Without Expectation |
2015 | Just Do It |
I Am A Runner | |
2014 | Some Things I Learned (Mostly) In The Army: |
2013 | Who You Are |
2012 | Mine Stands |
2011 | Aversions |
What About Freedom?
Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Brooke Allen, Enlightenment, Moral Minority, Philosophy, Quotes, Religion on May 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
And what about the ideal of freedom, the principle that in America has served as a beacon for both the left and the right, the religious and the secular, for the past three hundred years? This has become such a fundamental part of our thinking that we have all but forgotten its origin as an Enlightenment project. But in fact no one before that era ever considered individual autonomy to be a “natural” right. | |
— Brooke Allen | |
From her book: “Moral Minority“ | |
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