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Living in Data
Living in Data: A Citizen's Guide to a Better Information Future | Jer Thorp
2 posts | 2 read | 6 to read
Jer Thorp’s analysis of the word “data” in 10,325 New York Times stories written between 1984 and 2018 shows a distinct trend: among the words most closely associated with “data,” we find not only its classic companions “information” and “digital,” but also a variety of new neighbors—from “scandal” and “misinformation” to “ethics,” “friends,” and “play.” To live in data in the twenty-first century is to be incessantly extracted from, classified and categorized, statisti-fied, sold, and surveilled. Data—our data—is mined and processed for profit, power, and political gain. In Living in Data, Thorp asks a crucial question of our time: How do we stop passively inhabiting data, and instead become active citizens of it? Threading a data story through hippo attacks, glaciers, and school gymnasiums, around colossal rice piles, and over active minefields, Living in Data reminds us that the future of data is still wide open, that there are ways to transcend facts and figures and to find more visceral ways to engage with data, that there are always new stories to be told about how data can be used. Punctuated with Thorp's original and informative illustrations, Living in Data not only redefines what data is, but reimagines who gets to speak its language and how to use its power to create a more just and democratic future. Timely and inspiring, Living in Data gives us a much-needed path forward.
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Kenyazero
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Jer Thorp does an excellent job of examining the benefits and potential (and past) harms of data projects and data collection. He explores the social elements and consequences of data collection and interpretation. I didn‘t read the description going in (very common for me now), so I went into this expecting a much lighter book about data collection and data art creation. I really appreciated what I got instead. #Nonfiction #data #DataViz

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Well-ReadNeck
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Jer Thorp is an artist who creates creative visualizations of data. His deep dive into data, where it comes from, what it says and what it doesn‘t is fascinating and, like his graphics, wonderfully presented. #ARC #Edelweiss

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