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CDC data are disappearing

(www.theatlantic.com)
749 points doener | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.426s | source
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breadwinner ◴[] No.42902252[source]
Data is the ultimate Fact Check. This is a President that's adamantly opposed to fact checking [1] and has even coerced Facebook to drop fact checking. Of course they don't want data on government sites that disprove their "alternate facts".

[1] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4920827-60-minutes-tru...

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djfobbz ◴[] No.42903684[source]
Data isn't the ultimate fact check - it's just numbers waiting to be twisted. Bias, bad sources, and cherry-picking turn 'facts' into fiction. Real fact-checking needs brains, not just bar graphs.
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darth_avocado ◴[] No.42904445[source]
> Data isn’t the ultimate fact check

But it is. Numbers can be twisted, but it they can easily be verified. Bias, bad sources and cherry picking can allow you to tell stories, but the data will allow you to verify those stories are indeed facts. Brain can’t really fact check things that don’t have any data.

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_heimdall ◴[] No.42905094[source]
Numbers alone will always lack context. You can absolutely verify where the numbers came from, weren't altered, and the math was done right. What you can't do is verify the numbers alone accurately portray what was happening in the real world, or what has happened in the real world since the snapshot of those numbers was taken.

Numbers are extremely useful, but numbers alone mean absolutely nothing.

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1. lelandbatey ◴[] No.42905948[source]
True, numbers alone mean nothing. And the surrounding context alone also doesnt paint a sufficient story. You need both, for without both you can't be effective. Unless said data/context is fabricated, trying to suppress either seems like a clear case of acting in bad faith.
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2. _heimdall ◴[] No.42912804[source]
Sure, I didn't mean to say data is unimportant or not needed at all. My point was just that data solves nothing without context (among other things, pike discernment and critical thinking).