Some people follow me for my statistics insights. Other people like me for my social commentary. This thread explains how those things are related.

A lot of people don't understand statistics. Statistics is critical thinking with numbers. In statistics, the goal isn't to use numbers for the sake of using numbers. It's to use numbers in service of revealing the truth.

As a statistician, I believe it is my duty to not blindly follow the numbers but it's also my duty to fairly consider what numbers can tell us about the truth of things. It falls on statisticians to sit in this in-between place and hold space.

In statistics, ideas become mathematics. Mathematics becomes code. Code becomes better decisions. With these decisions, we seek to act effectively in the world.

Whether I'm engaging in social commentary or discussions of statistics, I'm seeking truth. Truth is the unifying goal.

Not every problem in life requires data but data can be an essential tool for making sense of the world.

For a long time, we've been building a parallel world. An artificial world of data that we have layered on top of our natural perceptions of the physical world.

If you can't fully perceive and understand the world of data then you're effectively shut out of one of the greatest achievements of human kind. This is why it's essential to learn statistics.

This kind of long-form content takes extra work so if you like it and want to show support, like and retweet the thread, and give me a follow!