Maligned and misunderstood statisticians have at last found a spokesman.
Who is this person? Its the Chinese author of a poem celebrating a life swimming in data.
A poem, “Love the Homeland, Love Statistics,” includes the following stanza:
Life
Some mock me for doing statistics
Some loathe me and statistics
Some don’t understand what statistics are
Why is it that statistics
Put a calm smile on my face?
Because of statistics
I can solve the deepest mysteries
Because of statistics
I will not be lonely again, playing in the data
Because of statistics
I can rearrange the stars in the skies above
Because of statistics
My life is different, more meaningful
I love my life, my statistics
Don’t laugh, he’s badly needed to boost morale. Even the state-controlled Chinese media admits that 91% of citizens do not believe official Chinese statistics. In Britain, meanwhile, only 36% of people believe that official figures are generally accurate. (This, however, is an official figure, so 64% of us would hesitate before placing much confidence in it.)
Our relationship with statistics is complex.
We feel that no argument is complete without a gesture towards the data, yet few of us understand how they are compiled.
Statistics are essential to understanding the world, but statisticians get little credit -perhaps because their findings are so often abused through ignorance or manipulation.
Such is our cynicism that adding statistics to a charitable appeal actually reduces donations: It seems that merely reading a statistic makes us meaner. This is the kind of obstacle this unsung profession has to overcome.
So shout out, poet-statisticians of China. Bean-counters of the world, unite!
