The Numerati

Math powers the world. Everything collects information; everything is driven by information. Welcome to modernity.

I just got a personalized invitation to attend an information session at Marymount University for their Masters Degree in Interior Design. Personalized letter: cool, great. Pitching an interior design degree to me: lame, waste.

That's why people in marketing should read this book: what we need are data interpreters, not data crunchers. A cruncher buys my address and personalizes the invite. An interpreter matches my address with the rest of my information to realize I'm not interested.

If you want to become an interpreter, start by reading this book. It's a good, quick view of computer-aided synthesis of readily available, infinite data points.

That the information exists is a good sign of progress. Yet we aren't about to be mastered by machines: the data says little on its own. You need people to frame the questions.