4 ms·

I wonder if the people upvoting the article are actually reading it. It essentially just says "be careful" without any kind of practical advice for how to think

I wonder if the people upvoting the article are actually reading it. It essentially just says "be careful" without any kind of practical advice for how to think like a statistician. Two much better articles: * https://source.opennews.org/en-US/learning/distrust-your-data/ https://source.opennews.org/en-US/learning/distrust-your-dat... * https://github.com/Quartz/bad-data-guide https://github.com/Quartz/bad-data-guide

compactmani 11y ago
The title is advertising, which I won't hold against the author, but the message certainly isn't a bad one. In fact it's one of the factors I value the most when working with statisticians and data scientists.
Disruptive_Dave 11y ago
Thank you! Was quite disappointed by the lack of any even-halfway-substantial thought in the original post.
ericdykstra 11y ago
Just telling people to "think like a statistician" is enough to make them consider base rate information, so I wouldn't say that the article is useless, even if the content is a little lacking in the specifics.
- stdbrouw 11y ago
  Well, if you really want to learn how to think probabilistically in everyday life, I'd recommend Douglas Hubbard's "How to Measure Anything" which contains detailed advice for how to calibrate your estimates (so you don't continually over- or underestimate the probability of various events) and how base risk management and strategic decision making on this knowledge. Probably useful for the startup folk here. http://smile.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-Business-ebook/dp/B00INUYS2U/ http://smile.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-Bus...
Bjartr 11y ago
Your first link contains a link back to this article, so it seems there is at least some value to how it says "be careful".
RivieraKid 11y ago
Agree, pretty much zero useful / insightful / thought-provoking ideas in that article.
dang 11y ago
The second of those was posted at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10728866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10728866, but I don't think the first one has. Perhaps you should submit it.

compactmani 11y ago

The title is advertising, which I won't hold against the author, but the message certainly isn't a bad one. In fact it's one of the factors I value the most when working with statisticians and data scientists.

Disruptive_Dave 11y ago

Thank you! Was quite disappointed by the lack of any even-halfway-substantial thought in the original post.

ericdykstra 11y ago

Just telling people to "think like a statistician" is enough to make them consider base rate information, so I wouldn't say that the article is useless, even if the content is a little lacking in the specifics.

stdbrouw 11y ago
Well, if you really want to learn how to think probabilistically in everyday life, I'd recommend Douglas Hubbard's "How to Measure Anything" which contains detailed advice for how to calibrate your estimates (so you don't continually over- or underestimate the probability of various events) and how base risk management and strategic decision making on this knowledge. Probably useful for the startup folk here. http://smile.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-Business-ebook/dp/B00INUYS2U/ http://smile.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-Bus...

Bjartr 11y ago

Your first link contains a link back to this article, so it seems there is at least some value to how it says "be careful".

RivieraKid 11y ago

Agree, pretty much zero useful / insightful / thought-provoking ideas in that article.

dang 11y ago

The second of those was posted at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10728866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10728866, but I don't think the first one has. Perhaps you should submit it.