Comments on: When we can measure everything.

By: l7h

l7h — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:21:26 +0000

Two great books on revealing interesting correlations and asking untypical questions are Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner.

They also have a blog: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Two great books on revealing interesting correlations and asking untypical questions are Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner.

They also have a blog: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/

By: Unearthing the non-obvious marketing relationships. | From The Head Of Zeus Jones

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:15:44 +0000

[...] you know, I’m obsessed by the way data reveal relationships that normally aren’t obvious and changes how we look at the world. Recently, a few more examples have popped up in my reading [...]

By: From The Head Of Zeus Jones » Blog Archive » Measuring the unmeasureable.

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:45:53 +0000

[...] I don’t think it’s because the data don’t exist. As I’ve said before, we’re rapidly entering an era where everything is measureable. I don’t have a great answer other than it feels like creating new measurements would be a [...]

By: From The Head Of Zeus Jones » Blog Archive » Transparency v. regulation.

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:01:20 +0000

[...] and increased linking of disparate data. I wrote about this a while ago, but I think that our ability to measure everything and see the non-obvious consequences of our actions will begin to …. If bankers had been staring a dashboard that showed the true impact and risk of their loans [...]

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:34:53 +0000

Bit late to this post but check out Onzo (http://www.onzo.co.uk/). They make human-friendly energy meters. Whole idea is that measurement of what we consume energy-wise will lead us to reduce our individual consumption. Instinctively, I buy it.

By: From The Head Of Zeus Jones » Blog Archive » An alignment of interests.

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:11:04 +0000

[...] their decisions. This plays on a number of themes that are near and dear to my heart. The role and importance of numbers and measurement, as well as the undoing of the fragmentation and specialization wrought by the industrial [...]

By: Ed Brenegar

Ed Brenegar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:01:00 +0000

A couple years ago my son and I were backpacking with an Annapolis midshipman in New Mexico. Most of our group was a good quarter mile a head of me – old, slow and not in the shape of an 18 year old – and I was already winded. Our USNA friend told me to shorten my stride and I’d hike faster. He was right. I caught up with them before they reached the top of a 500 feet incline.

By: Mnels

Mnels — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Adrian, if you haven’t, you might check out the book “Nudge” (Sunstein/Thaler). They take this emerging awareness of the undercurrents that drive human behavior to the level of designing incentives that help people make better decisions or choices. I am intrigued by this idea though a little uncomfortable with our ability to accurately anticipate all the (potentially negative) consequences of incentives.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:57:00 +0000

Thanks Helge,

As always you’ve pointed to another great resource I didn’t know about before.

By: Helge Tennø

Helge Tennø — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Excellent post Adrian.

To ad a classic example to your post: The one about organ donation. From the Predictably/Irrational blog:

This graph shows the percentage of people, across different European countries, who are willing to donate their organs after they pass away. When people see this plot and try to speculate about the cause for the differences between the countries that donate a lot (in blue) and the countries that donate little (in orange) they usually come up with “big” reasons such as religion, culture, etc.

Answer:
http://www.predictablyirrational.com/?p=235