We Love Numbers, It's The Arithmetic We Could Do Without
Over the weekend I finished a book that had been on my reading list for some time. “Microtrends” by Mark Penn provides a good read not only for marketers, but anyone who is interested in understanding how the ‘world’ is evolving around them. The book covers 75 U.S.-centric trends brewing in the background of everyday life that could have a significant impact on society in the years ahead.
While the list of 75 contains a few obvious and well-documented movements (e.g. the rise of obesity), much of the content provides entertaining, if not valuable food-for-thought. Over the past week, I worked my way through the book an hour at a time before turning out the light on my night table. During this period, I found myself sharing my newfound tidbits of knowledge with anyone who would listen - colleagues, elevator mates, and gas station attendants. So now, if you have a minute, I’ll share one with you.
As we've all heard over and over, the U.S. is falling behind most of the rest of the world when it comes to the formal study of math and science-related subjects. The author emphasizes this point by citing the low number of undergraduate students majoring in math at Harvard and Yale – 77 and 38 respectively. But he also goes on to discuss the irony of what he sees as the growing fascination with numbers in society today. Penn’s position is that while we may not bother with the mechanics behind the calculations, we do have an insatiable appetite for the results and insights they provide.
Who can blame us? The rate of computing power over the last couple of decades has transformed the landscape. We produce the questions and machines generate the answers. How many inquires have you placed in your search engine during the past week? If you’re like me, the number is probably 50 to 100. What’s the algorithm used to produce the results? Who cares, as long as we get what we need at the moment we need it. Societal implications aside, as business managers we can thrive quite well without understanding the “How” behind the answers, as long as we have the skill to analyze the “Why” and recommend the “What’s next.”
What’s your opinion? Drop me a quick line or post a comment. I’d love to hear your point of view.
