Statistics, lies and the virus: 5 lessons from a pandemic

In an age of disinformation, the value of rigorous data has never been more evident

Data from testing people for the Covid-19 virus can yield life-saving insights but there is also concern over how officials, swayed by emotions, politics and, above all, preconceptions, interpret the numbers. PHOTO:EPA-EFE
Data from testing people for the Covid-19 virus can yield life-saving insights but there is also concern over how officials, swayed by emotions, politics and, above all, preconceptions, interpret the numbers. PHOTO:EPA-EFE

FINANCIAL TIMES - Will this year be 1954 all over again? Forgive me, I have become obsessed with 1954, not because it offers another example of a pandemic (that was 1957) or an economic disaster (there was a mild US downturn in 1953), but for more parochial reasons.

Nineteen fifty-four saw the appearance of two contrasting visions for the world of statistics - visions that have shaped our politics, our media and our health.

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