Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 33 seconds

Current American culture is so enamored by technology and progress and science that we generally think they’re the solution to all our problems. If something has numbers in it, we’re more likely to believe the thing. (My students often refer to any cited statistics or other figures as “facts”, with the implication that richer descriptions of things must be less-valuable or merely “opinion”.) It’s essentially the battle for the preservation of the humanities, but on a larger scale and at a deeper level.