Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

you know what?   DATA is not necessarily a "replacement" for a GOLDEN GUT.   rather, it only means that DATA now augments whatever else informs the GOLDEN GUT.

think about it.   aside from experience alone, what gives us (or strengthens) our instincts in the first place?   is it not just external events --- directly or passively experienced --- absorbed by human memory (the human "data" bank) and filed away for future use?   if then, go to ... if then, go to ... if then, go to...

why should mathematical  data now replace all other sources of input (non-mathematical data) as the only path to financial success?   the various types of data we ingest will always change with the times.   mathematical  data is now only an additional source upon which to base a decision; not a be-all, end-all.   who knows what the morrow will bring?   all of the spreadsheets ever devised will never replace daily/monthly/yearly-accumulated common sense.

i guess i take issue with whatever it was from which  the hosts  were reading/quoting.   any CEO who finds it easy to ignore his own gut instincts in favor of only what's printed on a piece of paper in front of him on his desk had no instincts in the first place.     which only begs the question:   without gut instincts --- with no mathematical data heretofore at hand --- how did he/she become CEO in the first place?