“On average, people should be more skeptical when they see numbers. They should be more willing to play around with the data themselves.” PeopleShouldPlayNumbersWillingAverageDataSkeptical Author:Nate Silver
“The public is even more pessimistic about the economy than even the most bearish economists are.” EconomyEconomistPessimistic Author:Nate Silver
“Every day, three times per second, we produce the equivalent of the amount of data that the Library of Congress has in it's entire print collection, right? But most of it is like cat videos on YouTube or thirteen-year-olds exchanging text messages about the next 'Twilight' movie.” YearsThreeNextActorsProduceAmountMessagesCatLibraryCongressVideoDataMovieCollectionsPrintTwilightThree TimesYoutubeExchangingText MessageTwilight MovieData Collection Author:Nate Silver
“When you get into statistical analysis, you don't really expect to achieve fame. Or to become an Internet meme. Or be parodied by 'The Onion' - or be the subject of a cartoon in 'The New Yorker.' I guess I'm kind of an outlier there.” KindAchieveSubjectsInternetFameAnalysisCartoonNew YorkersOnionsMemesOutliers Author:Nate Silver
“You can build a statistical model and that's all well and good, but if you're dealing with a new type of financial instrument, for example, or a new type of situation - then the choices you're making are pretty arbitrary in a lot of respects.” IfsWellsChoicesSituationExampleTypeModelsInstrumentsFinancialArbitrary Author:Nate Silver
“Almost everyone's instinct is to be overconfident and read way too much into a hot or cold streak.” WayToo MuchColdHotInstinctStreaksOverconfident Author:Nate Silver
“Basically, books were a luxury item before the printing press.” BookPressesLuxuryItemsPrintingPrinting PressLuxury Items Author:Nate Silver
“By playing games you can artificially speed up your learning curve to develop the right kind of thought processes.” KindGamesProcessSpeedCurvesPlaying GamesThought ProcessLearning Curve Author:Nate Silver