What is left after the game? And what did we gain? Data and results for the statistic.
The world cup in South Africa is nearing its climax. All the games will have been played, and we’ll know the soccer world champion team. It will be either the Netherlands or Spain. For both teams it would be the first time winning the world cup.
Brazil won’t take the cup home a sixth time. They are not in the tournament anymore. Five titles don’t sound too bad, do they? I guess the Brazilian soccer fans must feel very good about themselves. For now, however, they are the losers. They did not live up to expectations.
England’s statistics look a lot less good. Teams from the country that invented the game only won the world cup once. They are always considered to be a favorite, nonetheless. The numbers don’t back it up. The numbers also fail to mention the dubious circumstances that allowed England’s winning goal in their only championship game appearance. Our collective memory provides us with this meta statistic.
Professional sports and movies are both part of the entertainment industry. The results created by a game of sports are very different, in nature, compared to those of the scripted drama, or the unscripted but staged and edited to fit the narrative reality TV. Eli Manning really completed a 13 yards game-winning pass to Plexico Burres in Super Bowl XLII, but Luke Skywalker never destroyed the Death Star in a galaxy far, far away.
In America, 48% of the population does not believe in any kind of evolution. This statistic speaks only of the believe, not the lack of an evolutionary process. The true statement is 48% believe.
What is our faith? The statistic tell us the truth.
What is our hope? The statistic be changed to our advantage.
What is the thing that’s larger than the sum of its parts? The statistic. It predicts we will live, we love, and it knows that we’ll die.
The odds are as mystical as anything.
The times have changed and the winners are losers now. You are for change, if the now is not in your favor. If the tricks worked, defend them. Be conservative. Remember the good old days–the old statistic. The tricks were working back then. Yes, the tricks! Statistics are a form of perception. How a question is framed sets the stage for what the answer can be.
If the statistic can’t be changed for real, the way to change its appearance is to change how to count. Big finance doesn’t alter their methods. They get a new name and logo while they keep up betting against their own mortgage plans. It’s easier to green-wash than to go green.
The jobs we worked, the income we have, the education we bought, the sexual partners we’ve had, the songs we listened to repeatedly, the apartments we rented, the praises we received, the dominant traits of our ancestors; we could keep track of everything, and to a degree we do. These and many more things are the statistics of our existence. If someone knew these facts, they would know you well. But what does the sum really tell?
These numbers and measurements are out there, yet there is no organ in your body called the soul. In fact any measurement taken about the end of your life – your chance to better your statistic – indicates the statistic is all that will be left of us.
Years from now, people will speak matter-of-factly about the 2010 world cup and its winning team – goals scored, and penalties got, players, and referees. As a matter of fact that’s the soul made of statistics.