Nestes tempos de maioria absoluta. Nestes tempos de "Lie to me". Nestes tempos de manipulação estatística.
"I worry about a world in which many people will believe anything, but I worry far more about one in which people believe nothing beyond their own preconceptions.
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Doubt is a powerful weapon, and statistics are a vulnerable target. That target needs defenders. Yes, it’s easy to lie with statistics—but it’s even easier to lie without them.
And more important, without statistics it’s impossible to tell the truth—to understand the world so that we can try to change it for the better,
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when it comes to interpreting the world around us, we need to realize that our feelings can trump our expertise.
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The aim of this book is to help you be wiser about statistics. That means I also need to help you be wiser about yourself. All the statistical expertise in the world will not prevent your believing claims you shouldn’t believe and dismissing facts you shouldn’t dismiss. That expertise needs to be complemented by control of your own emotional reactions to the statistical claims you see.
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We often find ways to dismiss evidence that we don’t like. And the opposite is true, too: when evidence seems to support our preconceptions, we are less likely to look too closely for flaws.
The more extreme the emotional reaction, the harder it is to think straight.
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We don’t need to become emotionless processors of numerical information—just noticing our emotions and taking them into account may often be enough to improve our judgment. Rather than requiring superhuman control over our emotions, we need simply to develop good habits. Ask yourself: How does this information make me feel? Do I feel vindicated or smug? Anxious, angry, or afraid? Am I in denial, scrambling to find a reason to dismiss the claim?
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The answer to both questions is the same: when it comes to interpreting the world around us, we need to realize that our feelings can trump our expertise."
Trechos retirados de "The Data Detective" de Tim Harford.
3 comentários:
Ui, esta dá pano para conversa... É para provocar alguém?? :)
(reflexão, ver de cima... :P)
Ehehehe
O texto introdutório foi motivado por uma foto que vi ontem no Twitter. Um daqueles baloiços que os autarcas resolveram plantar ao longo do país tinha uma chapa metálica na estrutura de madeira que dizia algo do género: Só para tirar fotos, não para balançar.
Ainda há dias - https://twitter.com/ccz1/status/1485884966080761856
Um país de negociatas, um país de fachada, um país de cativações
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