I finished reading @TimHarford's 'HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD ADD UP' this week and wanted to post an #armandminibookreview (hashtagging so I can find this later and repost to book review sites).
tl;dr, it's an awesome book. Everyone should read it. Slightly longer assessment...
tl;dr, it's an awesome book. Everyone should read it. Slightly longer assessment...
Tim elegantly captures some of the core principles needed to assess statistics when they are presented to you, in the news on social and elsewhere.
He gives ten practical tools for you to use - few of which require actually applying statistics, more credulity and consideration - to make sense of things.
In addition to the core principles, he gives a smorgasbord of examples of where statistic borne 'facts' have been less credible, owing to one or other choice in the way they are presented.
He also delightfully recounts some examples of where big data failed dramatically (or succeeded, depending on your perspective) - and the challenges of linking correlation to causation.
My two favourite lessons - are the ones asking people to 'be curious' - think about the world, ask questions to further their understanding, of not simply accepting a stat as a fact....
...And second, the idea of asking people with a dogmatic view not to change their mind - but simply explain it. I might change my mind, or they might change theirs - especially if one of us realise we understand our articles of faith less well than we thought we did...
Everyone should read this book, but particularly those, like me, who find that part of their job is the crafting of stories from statistics that stand a chance of influencing people in any way. We have a responsibility to be as clear as possible with data.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
