Narrative of Numbers
How People Lie, Cheat And Mislead Through Supposedly Objective Numbers
Most of my life, I lived under the pretense that statistics, charts, studies and even measurements were objective facts.
Only within the last couple years have I seen how they aren't, but also how they cannot be... not fully.
I’ve recently gone through “The Psychology of Totalitarianism” by Mattias Desmet.
Professor Desmet is best known for his thesis on ‘Mass Formation’. And this book is his long form description and presentation of the phenomenon as he understands it and as he’s witnessed it happen over the pandemic.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It will likely never get the praise it deserves within our lifetime, but I fully believe it will stand as one of the seminal works of this time period in future years once it’s allowed to be.
The bottom line is still: People communicate through story. And experts are still people.
Those who are in charge of turning numbers into facts and studies into policy not only realize this, but purposefully use this paradigm to garner the results that best suit their aims.
Be aware of who is telling you what story based off of supposed facts. Their interpretation could wind up reshaping your reality no matter how true or false it is.
The Social Disorder Podcast: Narrative of Numbers
The Psychology of Totalitarianism by Mattias Desmet
Our Present Dark Age by Steve Patterson
Dark Horse Podcast featuring Mattias Desmet
Drew ~ did you read George Orwell's novel Animal Farm in school? We taught it every year to sophomores -- who are now the adults in the USA. I don't think "it took." We are definitely in Mass Formation. Thanks for the recommendation. I will get Desmet's book or at least watch the youtube videos. Looks fascinating -- and scary!