Been ages since a post! stress as usual, and here comes a post!
Watched a very interesting documentary today (Thanks BBC, you make the best docs) named like a horror show, "The Joy of Stats". It was interesting in its use of graphics to tell stories via statistics - and it's more interesting than it sounds. honest. - and brings to light the most inspiring stats-related quote i've ever heard.
Ultimately, statistics extends and underpins insurance, and in a strange way it does make me feel better about the work i do; perhaps not in the way that changes lives, neither does it help me explain to relatives that insurance is neither extortion nor gamble. perhaps i feel better only because i understand what the documentary may be trying to say.
In any case, the quote that moved me was that by Florence Nightingale -
"To understand God's thoughts we must study statistics, for these are the measure of His purpose"
The key phrase here, to me, is "measure". It makes no pretence as to the success in understanding God, these "measurements" only serve as a means to see the bigger picture of the world around us, to provide a perspective that allows the understanding of the trends that surround every phenomenon.
Another thing i saw today, which i think will probably be interesting to watch to see if this works out. In any case, i think sites like these are the reason why i'd like ever faster internet on my mobile =)
http://figment.com/
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