“We often find ways to dismiss evidence that we don’t like.”
Tim Hartford in The Data Detective.
Data Detective Six
The Data Detective Five
“Our feelings can often trump our expertise.”
Tim Harford in The Data Detective
Using trump in the old sense not the the orange haired sense.
The Data Detective Four
“Nullius in Verba” translates to “Take nobody’s word for it.”
The motto of the Royal Society
as quoted by Tim Harford in The Data Detective
The Data Detective Three
“Yes, it’s easy to lie with statistics,
but it’s even easier to lie without them.”
Tim Harford in The Data Detective
This quote is variously attributed.
Data Detective Two
The Data Detective One
“Have the confidence to assess information with curiosity and a healthy skepticism.”
Tim Harford in The Data Detective
I highly recommend this book and will be quoting from it regularly as I finish reading it.
Book Recommendation Three
Against Empathy by Paul Bloom
In this short book Bloom argues against the instinctive empathy that drives so much of our reaction to events. It is good he argues to have sympathy for those suffering or in need but when it is empathy we might react to the immediate suffering at the expense of helping a larger group. It is worth a read because it makes you think about the way both policy and personal decisions are made.
Photo is the sunset from our balcony on Feb 3
Book Recommendation Two
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
Black Lives Matter has been on the agenda longer than Covid 19. Gladwell sees the issues of race from both sides and tells some stories that allowed me to see how minorities would see issues like aggressive policing. He offers some reasonable advice and some attainable policy proposals. It is an easy read about a difficult subject. In the margin it changed my behavior.
Photo is of an Inukshuk I built on Piestewa Peak in January.
Book Recommendation One
“Urgency is one of the worst distorters of our world view.”
Hans Rosling in Factfulness
I read Factfulness twice and it definitely was the top book I read in 2020. I quoted it numerous times on the blog and I could easily find another ten quotes. See one above. Link to many more Factfulness quotes. Rosling studies the data. He doesn’t try to make the data fit the narrative.
Words Seldom Seen: Coachee
Coachee
Noun: One who is coached.
Example: “He met with his coachee every week and some progress was made.
My first encounter with this word was in The Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt etal. If you like motivation books it is a good choice.
Photo is of a Inukshuk I built on Piestewa Peak circumference trail.