Big data wants to know how you will vote in November (it also wanted to know how voters would lean in the Scottish national vote and other exercises in democracy around the world). Well, not big data exactly but other bigs: big business, big campaigns. But there is no data about the future. Events about the future, however, are known. And because there is no data about the … [Read more...] about Why Big Data is Ringing You Up at Dinner
Political
Why is Uncertainty in so many of Today’s Headlines
I just completed a brief interview on uncertainty, and I don't think my answer was as precise as it could be. So I thought I would write out the answer here. Hope is a fact but certainty is a myth. Through the construct of hope, people may believe that things are stable or certain, but they never are. From the demise of marriages to untimely deaths, to the loss of a job to … [Read more...] about Why is Uncertainty in so many of Today’s Headlines
Education: Embracing the Messiness of the Future
This morning I read a post: A Teacher's Take on Brill's 'Class Warfare' which covers some the arguments for and against Brill's analysis of education through the lens of educator, Patrick Welsch's review of Brill's book in The Washington Post (“Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools” by Steven Brill). As with much of what should be strategic political dialog … [Read more...] about Education: Embracing the Messiness of the Future
A Must Listen: Ravitch: Standardized Testing Undermines Teaching from NPR Fresh Air
This interview is a couple of weeks old, but it is one of the best discussions I have heard on the issues of American education. I encourage you to take time to listen, or read the highlights. My commentary: When you listen to the privatization advocates, they make sense. When you listen to testing reform groups, they make sense. When you explore slow learning, that makes … [Read more...] about A Must Listen: Ravitch: Standardized Testing Undermines Teaching from NPR Fresh Air
Economic Balance Can’t Come from Sovereign State Policy Makers
Today's strategy+business article, A Continuous Quest for Economic Balance, discusses what countries must do to balance their economies. It starts, in its first sentence, revealing a bias by focusing on "what cracks the storm [the economic crisis] revealed in the foundations of national economies." I think there is a larger crack that appeared during the financial crisis, … [Read more...] about Economic Balance Can’t Come from Sovereign State Policy Makers
