From guts to data driven decision making

(This article was originally published at mages' blog, and syndicated at StatsBlogs.)

Source: Wikipedia, License: CC0

There is a wonderful cartoon by Loriot, a German humorist (1923 - 2011), about a couple sitting at a breakfast table, arguing about how to boil a four-and-a-half minute egg. The answer appears simple, but husband and wife argue about how to measure the time using experience, feelings and expert judgment (wife) or a clock (husband).

The whole sketch is hilarious and is often regarded as a fine observation of miss-communication.

Yet, I think it really points out two different approaches in decision making: You can trust your guts or use data/measurements to support your decision.
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Tags: career, data driven decision making, egg-timer, Insurance, Loriot, Soapbox