GreyMatter

Counter Intuitive Data

Seth Godin asks some tough questions in the context of the deluge of data that’s all around us, and their effect on our decision making…

The data shows, for example, that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. It doesn’t feel that way, of course, but will you respect the data and stop, cold turkey?

The data shows that the vast majority of wine drinkers can’t tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $100 bottle. Will that keep you from buying the fancy wine? How much is the placebo effect worth?

The data shows that famous colleges underperform many cheaper, friendlier, smaller colleges. How much is your neighbor’s envy worth?

As his post reminds us, “these are just a few of the millions of examples of counter-intuitive data-driven findings”.  The real question is this:

What are you going to do when your hunches don’t match the data that’s now pouring in?

Something to think about, isn’t it?