Nishant Kothary:

We’re punching ourselves in the, well, gut, by continuing to pit intuition against data. It’s not one or the other. It never has been, and as much as we try to sell the narrative, it never will be. They are both mandatory in sound decision-making.

As of my previous note on the optimization of everything. Nishant points out that the data and intuition dichotomy have no merit. We should view them as equal, data and intuition. Using both would do wonders with the design and engineering decision. Read the whole piece, it’s short and well worth your time, even the comment thread.

Virginia Heffernan for the NYT Magazine:

A Sucker Is Optimized Every Minute.

For optimizers, all values flatten: There’s optimal at one end and the dread suboptimal at the other. This can be freeing for those who get worked up by emotional, political or moral language. In theory, through optimization, arguments can be dispassionately adjudicated and then resolved without tears. You find Inkwell, the true black-and-white Instagram filter, beautiful? Sorry: Instagram photos filtered with the purplish monochrome Willow get way more hearts than Inkwell photos. I’m just saying. I mean, it’s just data.

A witty and sobering article, pointing out our insatiable hunger for data, data, and more data. Knowing the metric for everything and the value of nothing.

Is this the future that we want to build?