The Predictive Power of Statistics
first published in Policy Magazine , Autumn 2008 A review of Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres On a recent visit to my local medical centre I came face to face with the fact that Dr Google now seems to know more than my family GP. I was ushered into the consultation room where I explained my symptoms to a slightly ruffled and obviously overworked doctor. He listened attentively, nodded thoughtfully and then asked for a moment while he entered a few keywords into Google. “Right then,” he continued brightly, “what you have is …” and proceed to diagnose my ailment and prescribe the necessary to clear it up. I was taken aback. What was he doing looking it up on Google? I expected that he’d have enough experience to know what my problem was. And what if the internet was down? Would he just guess? I was reminded of this incident and my reaction to it when reading Super Crunchers . Ian Ayers’ latest book addresses this very question – what is the right use of data and how can conclusions derived