http://www.coxesroost.net/journal/2008/02/20/fiat Asking the Stupid Questions since 1971 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:51:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 http://www.coxesroost.net/journal/2008/02/20/fiat#comment-35900 David Nesting Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:54:01 +0000 http://www.coxesroost.net/journal/2008/02/20/fiat#comment-35900 If my new employer has changed one thing about me, it's my new focus on data. Most intelligent people can see through statements like that. Give me a candidate that can lay all of the data out on the table, admit margins of error, and make it apparent that they know what a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy" rel="nofollow">logical fallacy</a> is, and I cannot imagine they could ever possibly lose. This just reinforces the fact that people don't care about the right thing, they just care about the thing that makes them "feel" best. Statements like this appeal to emotions, and that's what wins elections. All a necessary evil, I suppose, for a working democracy, but I often wonder if data will ever have a place in human government. If my new employer has changed one thing about me, it’s my new focus on data. Most intelligent people can see through statements like that. Give me a candidate that can lay all of the data out on the table, admit margins of error, and make it apparent that they know what a logical fallacy is, and I cannot imagine they could ever possibly lose. This just reinforces the fact that people don’t care about the right thing, they just care about the thing that makes them “feel” best. Statements like this appeal to emotions, and that’s what wins elections. All a necessary evil, I suppose, for a working democracy, but I often wonder if data will ever have a place in human government.

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