We want to get 80%-85% of predictions right, not 100%. Or else we calibrated our estimates in the wrong way.
Racism is predictable. It's predicted by interaction or lack thereof with people unlike you, people of other races.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Racism stems from a lack of interaction with diverse groups, leading to predictable prejudices.
In this quote, Nate Silver highlights the idea that racism is often a result of unfamiliarity and isolation from different racial groups. When individuals do not engage or interact with people who are different from them, they may develop preconceived notions and biases that can manifest as racism. The predictability of these attitudes underscores the importance of fostering dialogue and interactions among diverse communities to break down barriers and combat racism.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on social media about racial issues, you might share this quote to emphasize the need for diversity.
More from Nate Silver
All quotes βWe're not that much smarter than we used to be, even though we have much more information - and that means the real skill now is learning how to pick out the useful information from all this noise.
A lot of news is just entertainment masquerading as news.
One of the pervasive risks that we face in the information age, as I wrote in the introduction, is that even if the amount of knowledge in the world is increasing, the gap between what we know and what we think we know may be widening.
A lot of journalism wants to have what they call objectivity without them having a commitment to pursuing the truth, but that doesn't work. Objectivity requires belief in and a commitment toward pursuing the truth - having an object outside of our personal point of view.
The quest for certainty in forecasting outcomes can be the enemy of progress.
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Belief is a moral act for which the believer is to be held responsible.
No one comes from the earth like grass. We come like trees. We all have roots.
All about us, in earth and air, wherever the eye or ear can reach, there is a power ever breathing itself forth in signs, now in daisy, now in a wind-waft, a cloud, a sunset; a power that holds constant and sweetest relation with the dark and silent world within us. The same God who is in us, and upon whose tree we are the buds, if not yet the flowers, also is all about us- inside, the Spirit; outside, the Word. And the two are ever trying to meet in us.
The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.
Fable is more historical than fact, because fact tells us about one man and fable tells us about a million men.