Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters

Stone, Deborah

ISBN 10: 1631495925 / ISBN 13: 9781631495922

Editore: Liveright, 2020

Codice articolo IN-419199

Riassunto:

And yet, in this age of big data and metric mania, numbers shape almost every facet of our lives: whether we get hired, fired, or promoted; whether we get into college or out of prison; how our opinions are gathered and portrayed to politicians; or how government designs health and safety regulations. In warm and playful prose, Counting explores what happens when we measure nebulous notions like merit, race, poverty, pain, or productivity.When so much rides on numbers, they can become instruments of social welfare, justice, and democracy—or not. The citizens of Flint, Michigan, for instance, used numbers to prove how their household water got contaminated and to force their government to take remedial action. In stark contrast, the Founding Fathers finessed an intractable conflict by counting each slave as three-fifths of a person in the national census. They set a terrible precedent for today’s politicians who claim to solve moral and political dilemmas with arithmetic.Counting

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What ...
Casa editrice: Liveright
Data di pubblicazione: 2020
Legatura: hardcover
Condizione: New