politics: nate silver isn't a witch, he's a babe
Can I mention that the man keeping me sane these past weeks was a man of science, a nerd, a geek, an incredibly hot numbercruncher who I wish had a fandom of his own and that I was into RPF so I could pair him with someone who would cuddle him and bring him coffee and pudding and maybe fondle his naughty bits (not gonna, nope. I swear.) I'm speaking, of course, of Nate Silver, who isn't a witch. probably.
Photo: The Atlantic Wire
Now he gets his victory lap against the doubters and the haters (the Right) and everyone who didn't want to believe because Math is Evil and bothers them for some reason, as if rational thought prompts an allergic reaction in their souls and causes festering boils or something.
I've never understood that. Rationalism was all that stood between me and the monster in the closet when I was wee tot. I told it to go ahead and eat me, but that if I woke up the next morning still alive, then it didn't exist.
I woke up, and that was the end of monsters, ghosts, and God, as far as I was concerned.*
But if people would prefer to turn away from rationalism and use tea leaves, Tarot cards or gut instinct to predict elections, more power to them, as long as they don't take those predictions and try to use them to skew results with ranting anti-math articles in popular media. That's where it gets dicey in my book.
Math is good. Math is greatness. It delineates the underlying structure of our world. It helps us understand who we are and what we wish to achieve. And if we're going to get anywhere, we need to pay attention.
And this, more than anything else, lost the GOP the election, because they failed to take into consideration the power of Math, and how it equals people.
So maybe I should be glad they don't believe in math. And yet somehow, I'm not.
But I believe in Nate Silver. And I want to buy him that coffee.
*Well, there was the experiment where I dropped the Communion bread in the toilet to see if I'd be smote with lightning, but that's another story.
[ X-posted to Dreamwidth with
comments | How to use OpenID ]
Photo: The Atlantic Wire
Now he gets his victory lap against the doubters and the haters (the Right) and everyone who didn't want to believe because Math is Evil and bothers them for some reason, as if rational thought prompts an allergic reaction in their souls and causes festering boils or something.
I've never understood that. Rationalism was all that stood between me and the monster in the closet when I was wee tot. I told it to go ahead and eat me, but that if I woke up the next morning still alive, then it didn't exist.
I woke up, and that was the end of monsters, ghosts, and God, as far as I was concerned.*
But if people would prefer to turn away from rationalism and use tea leaves, Tarot cards or gut instinct to predict elections, more power to them, as long as they don't take those predictions and try to use them to skew results with ranting anti-math articles in popular media. That's where it gets dicey in my book.
Math is good. Math is greatness. It delineates the underlying structure of our world. It helps us understand who we are and what we wish to achieve. And if we're going to get anywhere, we need to pay attention.
And this, more than anything else, lost the GOP the election, because they failed to take into consideration the power of Math, and how it equals people.
So maybe I should be glad they don't believe in math. And yet somehow, I'm not.
But I believe in Nate Silver. And I want to buy him that coffee.
*Well, there was the experiment where I dropped the Communion bread in the toilet to see if I'd be smote with lightning, but that's another story.
[ X-posted to Dreamwidth with
comments | How to use OpenID ]