Some people follow me for my statistics insights. Other people like me for my social commentary. This thread explains how those things are related. π
A lot of people don't understand statistics. Statistics is critical thinking with numbers. In statistics, the goal isn't to use numbers for the sake of using numbers. It's to use numbers in service of revealing the truth.
As a statistician, I believe it is my duty to not blindly follow the numbers but it's also my duty to fairly consider what numbers can tell us about the truth of things. It falls on statisticians to sit in this in-between place and hold space.
In statistics, ideas become mathematics. Mathematics becomes code. Code becomes better decisions. With these decisions, we seek to act effectively in the world.
Whether I'm engaging in social commentary or discussions of statistics, I'm seeking truth. Truth is the unifying goal.
Not every problem in life requires data but data can be an essential tool for making sense of the world.
For a long time, we've been building a parallel world. An artificial world of data that we have layered on top of our natural perceptions of the physical world.
If you can't fully perceive and understand the world of data then you're effectively shut out of one of the greatest achievements of human kind. This is why it's essential to learn statistics.
This kind of long-form content takes extra work so if you like it and want to show support, like and retweet the thread, and give me a follow! π
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A bit of personal news. I got vaccinated for covid-19!
I feel more than a little embarrassment over this privilege but hopefully this will encourage people who are hesitant about the vaccine to feel a little more confident. I've been working in biotech for years and I felt taking the vaccine was the right decision for me.
I wasn't expecting to be vaccinated anywhere near this early but it happened because the lab I'm in at Harvard is part of an institution that sees patients.
I've noticed a kind of tribal individualist that's common online. They move in mobs, make nearly identical objections, claim not be a group or believe in groups, and are extremely hostile to the identities of others.
They've also been REALLY BAD for online scientific discourse.
Many people believe in individualism so strongly that they seem incapable of perceiving anything to do with groups. They don't understand sociology as a category of knowledge or social problems as anything more than a collection of the unique challenges of individuals.
Many individualists don't believe in sociology. They see it as a false science. Since groups don't exist for them, only individuals, they don't think sociological can exist either. After all, how can one scientifically study groups when groups aren't real?
I wrote a short thread on being a racial minority within math academia. I didnβt propose any changes to the status quo or solutions. Just pointed out why I think race is an issue in the context of my experiences. Here are some of the EXTREMELY racist responses I got back. ππΎ
Itβs funny because a lot of the responses say itβs not about race and accuse me of forcing race into the conversation. Meanwhile, many of those rather naive comments are located right next to insanely racist crap like this...
This one came close to calling me the N word but chickened out at the last moment. (Iβm not American or African!Nobody has even metaphorically come close to βgivingβ me any of these things.)
It's said that when women started working more, divorces increased. It seems that once women had their own money, they no longer wanted to deal with men's shit. Similarly, I suspect many of the prosperous non-whites (and women!) of today are becoming tired of white male bullshit.
In this analogy of civic life as a marriage, cancellation and the associated financial ruin which many white men fear in their public life is the equivalent of divorce and financial ruin which coincidentally many men in the mostly white "manosphere" fear in their private lives.
I frequently have white males telling me that from their perspective, people are being divisive by "bringing up" race and gender when these weren't issues before. What one needs to understand is just because something hasn't been an issue for YOU doesn't mean it wasn't an issue.
Have you heard of the "probability paradox" known as The Monty Hall Problem?
In my opinion, it's BARELY about probability and is DEFINITELY not a paradox! It's OVER-HYPED by folks that get a buzz out of "tricky" math puzzles!
I'm going to explain it to you WITHOUT ANY MATH. ππΎ
FIRED UP? LETS. DO. THIS! First, let's talk about what the Monty Hall Problem even is...
You're on Mr. Monty Hall's game show. There are 3 doors. One of them has a car behind it. The other two have goats. You pick an unopened door. At the end of the show, you get to keep whatever is behind your door.