Counting: How We Use Numbers to Decide What Matters [Hardcover]

What do people do when they count? What do numbers really mean? We all know that people can lie with statistics, but in this groundbreaking work, eminent political scientist Deborah Stone uncovers a much deeper problem. With help from Dr. Seuss and Cookie Monster, she explains why numbers cant be objective: in order to count, one must first decide what counts. Every number is the ending to a story built on cultural assumptions, social conventions, and personal judgments.Deborah Stones mind-altering insight is that the numbers we use to capture the human experience are themselves a form of creative story-telling. They shouldnt end the conversation, but spark a deeper and richer one. A delightful takedown of our unreasonable worship of numbers. . . . In 1954, Darrell Huffs bestselling [An] incisive treatise. . . . Stone distills a wealth of thinking about statistics and their psychological and social foundations into lucid, engaging prose, illustrated with piquant graphics and cartoons . . . [This] is a stimulating laypersons guide to the pseudo-mathematical rationalizations behind so much of what governments do. In this splendid book, Deborah Stone reveals that what we count dependson what we consider important, which in turn reflects how we makemeaning out of a world of infinite facts and possibilities. Requiredreading for anyone whos interested in the truth. Deborah Stones inspired book could not be better timed. Endless arguments about how to construct and understand COVID-19 statistics prove her pointostensibly objective numbers are never neutral. Stone brings to this endeavor her signature brilliance at demystifying daunting topics. Deborah Stone makes clear in her delightful new book that counting, that most basic mathematical activity, is anything but basic or mathematical when the topic is the social world. . . . The book is both enlightening and a joy to read. Anyone who believes that 2 ? 30 is equal to 3 ? 20 is in for a delightful surprise. Hl#÷