We need to learn to work with political systems that are not perfect instead of taking the view: let's first fix the politics, then we'll fix the rest.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
Here is an entirely banal idea that I think has the potential to change the world: Take evidence seriously. Taking evidence seriously does not mean privileging numbers over all other forms of knowledge - theories, narratives, images. Nor does it mean the kind of radical skepticism that questions everything to the point where no action is possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of considering evidence in decision-making without dismissing other forms of knowledge or succumbing to skepticism.
In this quote, Abhijit Banerjee advocates for a balanced approach to evidence, suggesting that taking evidence seriously is crucial for fostering understanding and making informed decisions. He cautions against merely valuing quantitative data over other valuable insights such as theories and narratives, and warns against extreme skepticism that can paralyze action. The quote suggests that a thoughtful engagement with evidence can lead to meaningful change while still appreciating the richness of different types of knowledge.
Themes
EvidenceKnowledgeDecision-MakingSkepticismUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about data-driven policymaking, this quote can serve to remind participants to value all forms of knowledge.
More from Abhijit Banerjee
All quotes →In the development business doing something for both women and the environment is the equivalent of holding a royal flush in poker.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
One problem with globalisation is that bad ideas seem to travel faster than good ones; first there was smearing tomato ketchup on everything; then drinking sugar-soaked cocktails ('Cosmo'-politanism) instead of our traditional whisky soda, and now this idea that we should abandon the poor to their fate in order to protect their dignity.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
Will we make all poverty history? No. But can we solve some of these extreme and egregious forms of poverty? I think yes, and we should.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
The Korean government is the first to declare that if you replace people with machines you have to pay a tax. It's a tax on robots. They make private companies internalise the social cost of unemployment. Social benefit is not the same as private benefit. We have to realise this.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
Most farmers know that their children's future will probably not be in agriculture, but they have a hard time imagining a different life.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
Similar quotes
What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arms goes up from the fact that I raise my arm?
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.
Kofi AnnanRead
Our memory is made up of our individual memories and our collective memories. The two are intimately linked. And history is our collective memory. If our collective memory is taken from us - is rewritten - we lose the ability to sustain our true selves.
Haruki MurakamiRead
Contention does not usually begin as strife between countries. More often, it starts with an individual, for we can contend within ourselves over simple matters of right and wrong. From there, contention can infect neighbors and nations like a spreading sore.
Russell M. NelsonRead
Oh, Creator! Can monsters exist in the sight of him who alone knows how they were invented, how they invented themselves, and how they might not have invented themselves?
Charles BaudelaireRead
I am so afraid of people's words.They describe so distinctly everything: And this they call dog and that they call house, here the start and there the end. I worry about their mockery with words, they know everything, what will be, what was; no mountain is still miraculous; and their house and yard lead right up to God. I want to warn and object: Let the things be! I enjoy listening to the sound they are making. But you always touch: and they hush and stand still. That's how you kill.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead