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T-minus 
minutes until todays event ‘How to Make the World Add Up’ with @TimHarford + @CCriadoPerez. Here’s how to get involved:
Watch: https://bit.ly/3hFqxyg
Discuss: #RSAnumbers
Send in your questions for Tim to answer here on Twitter after the event with #RSAnumbers!
minutes until todays event ‘How to Make the World Add Up’ with @TimHarford + @CCriadoPerez. Here’s how to get involved:Watch: https://bit.ly/3hFqxyg
Discuss: #RSAnumbers
Send in your questions for Tim to answer here on Twitter after the event with #RSAnumbers!
Before we kick things off, happy publication day to @TimHarford - ‘How to Make the World Add Up’ has been described (by none other than @CCriadoPerez!) as “powerful, persuasive, and in these truth-defying times, indispensable” https://bit.ly/3mwzfCI
@timharford chose @CCriadoPerez’s data-bias busting “Invisible Women” as one of his Books of 2019. He learned a lot from it and so will you… #genderdatagap https://bit.ly/3mwzoWM
Don’t forget! @timharford will be answering your questions here on Twitter after the event, so tweet your questions with #RSAnumbers!
We’re broadcasting now over on @youtube 
@CCriadoPerez kicks off by noting that Tim’s book is both cautionary and celebratory. We have to weigh statistical claims carefully, but used well, numbers have the power to help us shape a better world. #RSAnumbers
@CCriadoPerez kicks off by noting that Tim’s book is both cautionary and celebratory. We have to weigh statistical claims carefully, but used well, numbers have the power to help us shape a better world. #RSAnumbers
Here’s that excellent FT long read to whet your appetite for Tim’s book... (psst.. it reveals THAT Darrell Huff twist)
https://on.ft.com/3krGV7G
#RSAnumbers
https://on.ft.com/3krGV7G
#RSAnumbers
So, Covid-19. It has turned us all into armchair data analysts, poring over R-numbers, graphs, charts and curves daily. How do we make sense of it all and get a handle on the risks? #RSAnumbers
For most of us, @timharford reminds us, this is not about personal risk, but rather the risk of spreading the virus to more vulnerable others.
So...
Keep handwashing and mask-wearing, folks! #RSAnumbers
So...
Keep handwashing and mask-wearing, folks! #RSAnumbers
For Tim, the @ONS have been doing sterling work through the Covid crisis, but government communications haven’t always been helpful or even, at times, fully truthful.
Public trust has been undermined.
#RSAnumbers
Public trust has been undermined.
#RSAnumbers
A couple of rules of thumb for thinking more clearly about eye-catching numbers:
Calm Down
Contextualise
#RSAnumbers
Calm Down Contextualise#RSAnumbers
Top tip from @timharford Notice your emotional reaction to a numbers-based claim. And take a moment to pause and ask yourself a few simple questions before hitting that re-tweet button.
#RSAnumbers
We urgently need sex-disaggregated data to help us fully and accurately understand the health, social and economic impacts of Covid19, and to formulate a coherent and effective policy response.
#RSAnumbers
#RSAnumbers
The integrity and completeness of the statistics really matters. This is about the completeness of our picture of the world we live in.
#RSAnumbers
#RSAnumbers
Don't forget to submit your questions for @TimHarford with #RSAnumbers!
He'll be on hand to answer them after the event
He'll be on hand to answer them after the event
There’s just time to squeeze in a BIG question about algorithmic bias.
In brief, @TimHarford's view is algorithms can be a powerful tool, but we need much greater transparency, more open discussion and sharing among developers, and more regulation.
#RSAnumbers
In brief, @TimHarford's view is algorithms can be a powerful tool, but we need much greater transparency, more open discussion and sharing among developers, and more regulation.
#RSAnumbers
Check out the @theRSAorg's work on Ethical AI and how we as a public can get more involved balancing the benefits and risks of big data technologies:
https://bit.ly/2FDEWhx
#RSAnumbers
https://bit.ly/2FDEWhx
#RSAnumbers
Tim’s Golden Rule: Be Curious Think critically. Be open-minded.
Ask: who’s missing from this data? Go just that little bit deeper…
#RSAnumbers
Ask: who’s missing from this data? Go just that little bit deeper…
#RSAnumbers
@timharford: A side benefit of curiosity is that it can help to corrode the fixed mindsets that lead to political polarisation. #RSAnumbers
@timharford’s advice to data communicators:
Yes, be clear but also try to awaken a sense of wonder and curiosity in your audience.
People can understand anything, if they’re interested!
#RSAnumbers
Yes, be clear but also try to awaken a sense of wonder and curiosity in your audience.
People can understand anything, if they’re interested!
#RSAnumbers
Thanks to everyone who joined us today and to @timharford and @ccriadoperez for a fascinating event!
Tim is now available to take your questions– submit them with #RSAnumbers and we’ll share the answers. We’ll get the ball rolling…
Tim is now available to take your questions– submit them with #RSAnumbers and we’ll share the answers. We’ll get the ball rolling…
@timharford In addition to gender, are there other data gaps you’re concerned about? What are we regularly failing to see, and count? #RSAnumbers
@timharford Like Florence Nightingale, we’re big fans of data viz. But what should we be wary of next time our eye is caught by a shiny infographic? #RSAnumbers
@timharford inspired by MathGirl, we have to pose these two questions: Is math even real? Is this a good question? #RSAnumbers
