.@NateSilver538 just literally compared a year of remote learning to nearly half a million people being killed.
Does he have any children? I do. He hated remote learning but not once did he or I ever think “man, I’d kill 460,000 people just to get back to in-person learning!”
Does he have any children? I do. He hated remote learning but not once did he or I ever think “man, I’d kill 460,000 people just to get back to in-person learning!”
https://twitter.com/convolutedname/status/1478929763481837571
There was a time when, as a data wonk, I considered him to be a role model. Back in 2014 when I got my 15 minutes of fame for my ACA data tracking, a few folks referred to me as "the Nate Silver of Obamacare" and I was embarrassed because I didn't think I was worthy.
This column was particularly awkward for me because at the time I thought of Silver as a personal hero.
krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/dat…
krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/dat…
I've never mentioned this publicly, but in early 2014 when Silver left the NY Times & relaunched 538, he put out a call for data wonks interested in writing for the site. I was starting to get some buzz for my ACA work so I figured what the hell & thew my hat in the ring. 1/
I never heard back from anyone at 538 for several months, and quickly became overwhelmed with the insanity of that first ACA Open Enrollment Period (trust me, it was nuts) and kind of forgot about it... 2/
Then, on March 26, Paul Krugman posted his entry which favorably contrasted my work with Silver's.
2 days later, out of the blue, I received an email from someone at 538 saying they were interested in my writing a piece for them about the impending Open Enrollment deadline. 3/
2 days later, out of the blue, I received an email from someone at 538 saying they were interested in my writing a piece for them about the impending Open Enrollment deadline. 3/
If I had received that email 3 days earlier, I probably would have jumped at the opportunity...but to be shrugged off for months and then suddenly contacted immediately after that column ran felt...off. Maybe it was coincidence but it just didn't feel right. 4/
And so, I turned down the opportunity to write for 538. I've never submitted anything since and they've never asked me to do so.
While there are plenty of good writers/analysts at 538, almost 8 years later, I'm confident this was the right decision for me at the time.
While there are plenty of good writers/analysts at 538, almost 8 years later, I'm confident this was the right decision for me at the time.
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