warm data
A founding motivation for the pair was a belief that the discussion of climate change needed to be participatory, not a one-way lecture. "One of the things that frustrated me so much while working for major environmental groups is this concept that there are anointed people who 'know' and there are people who are 'not knowing'," says Quan
... See moreRichard Fisher • Why We Need New Words for Life in the Anthropocene
The issue with even this “trend” is that so much of cultural critique today remains observational.
Problematic considering the tiny narrative bubbles we’re each in.
Without layering any quantitative analysis into our stories, fads remain just reactions to reactions. Emptiness.
"Palestinians are often pinioned between two opposing but equally harmful tendencies: to turn them into abstractions on a political stage, or to turn away from them because what they’re enduring is too horrendous to truly grapple with
Ann Friedman • The Stats vs. The Story
The power in softness
Exploring the importance of soft data alongside hard data, embracing complexity and using personal data to understand and reclaim oneself, with a focus on emotions and human experiences.
LinkThe data collected would enable the organizers to plot “weather-maps of public feeling.” As a matter of principle, Mass-Observers did not distinguish themselves from the people they studied. They intended merely to expose facts “in simple terms to all observers, so that their environment may be understood, and thus constantly transformed.”
Pocket Observatory • Mass Observation
Can even the most unfathomable statistic feel real if it's not accompanied by a singular human's story? We need both stories and stats. The hyper-personal and the sense of scale.
Ann Friedman • The Stats vs. The Story
despite the undeniably consistent picture that we see across studies of scientific data collection, the desire to remove the human from the data in order to enhance objectivity remains very strong. Invariably, it seems like the ethical move.
Melanie Feinberg • The Myth of Objective Data
The deep knowledge about a place is most likely held by farmers and engaged locals. But it is not likely to be in a form demanded by policymakers to substantiate calls for spending. It’s not just about quantifying, it’s about qualitative data of the kind that amounts to a form of collective intelligence.”