On Doctor Hans Rosling And The Joy Of Stats

"Simplicity and economy of thought can be achieved by adhering to a few standard tools,"
William Feller, An Introduction to Probability Theory and Its Applications, p. 26

It is not often that the Oracle of Ottawa see's something on television anymore that is uplifting. And when it does occur, it must be commented upon and praised. The rare occasion was provided by TV Ontario on Sunday night, last. The show was entitled The Joy of Stats and it was hosted by a most optimistic and enthusiastic Hans Rosling. A show that was about the history and power of statistics! Compared to the drivel that TV Ontario has been running in the last years, this must be in total error! Why it was like TV Ontario in the 1970's! Perfectly produced and esoteric. Why, just the way I like my television!

The Joy of Stats - really...

It all really reminded me of John Kenneth Galbraith, and his wonderful series The Age of Uncertainty, which the Oracle has seen countless times and still hopes for the BBC to release as a digitally restored box set! It all started on location in Sweden and the good doctor Rosling is simply spellbinding in the telling of the tale of the history of statistics. It truly is a fascinating story, and it is interesting, and it is powerful, and most of all it is very important! It was the fastest hour of television that I have enjoyed in a very long while. The show would have been a total winner with this viewer even if it just told that wonderful "boring" story of the history of this very important science. But it was even better than that...

Towards the end of the show the doctor presents statistical data in a way that I have never seen before. As he made his point the data set moved and had upon this viewer a most profound and powerful effect. You have to check it out for your self since my descriptive power would not do it justice. You can check it out at gapminder.org. Which is a very slick site full of down loadable goodies, but be very careful, you will learn something!

Why even the thickest Conservative Party of Canada back bencher could understand this...well maybe...

John Kenneth Galbraith, No Greater Gift

Conscience is better served by a myth.
John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty, Chapter 4, p.111

John Kenneth Galbraith never won the Nobel Prize for Economics. Although he invented an idea as powerful as the invisible hand and left a body of work that is still seen on bookshelves to this very day. His greatest idea was that of "countervailing power". It is an idea that will become more and more important as the future unfolds, because you can apply it to political processes and all levels of sociological interactions. As a matter of fact you can trace a lot of organizational problems to the lack of countervailing power. As a matter of another fact, the lack of countervailing power leads to my great idea, the process of skidmarkization. That is a new word. I have found that large organizations without countervailing power soon lose their best people and the process of skidmarkization sets in as the brother in laws and brats replace the competent people.. Look around you! But enough of that!

John Kenneth Galbraith came from a farm in southern Ontario. Not very far from where I live. It always strikes students of Canadian history how a farm kid from Canada ended up serving in four of the greatest political administrations of the most powerful country on Earth! How the Hell did he get a security clearance?
Under the Kennedy administration he served as American Ambassador to India! Where at one point he single handedly prevented World War III! Damn! Where he did he get the jam? I get exhausted just thinking about it all...

John Kenneth Galbraith (left)

 Now John was also a fully tenured Harvard Prof. He wrote about 48 books and over 1000 articles! And do you remember The Age of Uncertainty television series? I grew up watching it on TV Ontario, I never tired of watching it. As a matter of fact it lit an interest in economics that has stayed with me all my life..(so far..) Darn! He must have been stinkin' rich!  The literary estate must still generate handsome cheques. What I always wanted to know is; what did he do with his money? Was it all in government bonds? Was he a shrewd successful stock picker? Or did he just spend it like a sailor? I always wanted to know that....   

But I do know how those residual cheques could be larger. Would someone look into getting the complete BBC series of The Age of Uncertainty into a DVD box set? If it could be digitally remastered pure heaven! My favorite episode was the third segment " The Massive Dissent of Karl Marx." It was utterly brilliant! And I am sure it will always be timely, since all the footage was captured at the exact locations of the subjects. And include a guide book perhaps? An updated version of The Age of Uncertainty? In time for Christmas would be perfect indeed!

 A little teaser, still plays very well, my favorite segment of The Age of Uncertainty...