Data culture is a culture that respects facts, emphasizes accuracy, and advocates rationality and logic. The lack of data culture is an important reason for China's backwardness. Building this culture, the face of Chinese civilization will take on a new look. (Inscription)
Big data is not a mineral deposit, but a soil. Open data is a river on land. Where the river flows, it will breed a developed data civilization. (interview)
The founders of the United States constructed the method of data decentralization on the basis of the census, which not only reconciled the contradiction between democracy and republicanism, but also was an innovation in the census itself. Because the power of each state-seats should be distributed according to population, the taxes that each state needs to pay to the central government should also be shared according to population, and the rights and obligations can be mutually restricted: States that want to gain more seats by exaggerating the population base should also bear more tax obligations accordingly; At the same time, those States that want to avoid taxes by concealing population growth will lose their due seats in the distribution of state power, which ensures the fairness and accuracy of the census. (P 1 1)
Autocratic tyrants make the accounting system as complicated and chaotic as possible in order to manipulate tax and financial work, but the monetary system of a Republic should be simple, so simple that even the most ordinary people can use it conveniently. In other words, the goal of the utopia is to make all calculations simple, so that everyone can become their own calculator in business activities without relying on others. Computing ability is not only the need of free economy, but also the need of free society and free people. (page 32)
Whether it is the invention of Hollerith, the rise of IBM or the appearance of the first commercial computer, it is inseparable from the huge data generated by the US census ... What makes future generations lament is that a political decision, after a hundred years of evolution, has pushed the United States to the peak of information technology and led the world into a new social form. How should future generations think, interpret and learn the twists and turns, miracles and greatness of history? (P 109)
In the face of complex conflicts of interest and political pressure, it goes without saying, let the data compete! ( 142)
Of course, the aides, cronies and cabinet ministers around the president all saw the clue. They all realize that if they want to get projects and grants, they must speak with data. This set off a wave of data in the American government, and various government departments began to recruit and hire statisticians and economists in large numbers to ensure that they would not fall behind in the "data race". (P 143)
At the congressional hearing, if every data is a little vague and every chain of logical reasoning is broken, it may be found out by greedy competitors and questioned and challenged. This rigorous and tit-for-tat argument finally promoted the standardization and perfection of cost-benefit evaluation methods. (P 144)
Opposing the quantification of life value in the name of morality is actually a manifestation of ignorance and a real disregard for the fundamental interests of mankind. How to complete this quantification is the real challenge for rational human beings. (P 146)
If there is a clear definition and goal of national rejuvenation, then China academic circles should not only quantify this process, but also let a hundred schools of thought contend and come up with various quantitative models. There are three reasons: first, only quantification can manage a process; Secondly, from the data competition between the American Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, we can see that it is the competition that makes the process of quantification constantly perfect; Third, each mathematical model has its limitations, and multiple models can complement each other. (P 172)
The historical reason for the gap between China and Japan lies in the different attitudes of the nationals of the two countries towards advanced civilization. The Japanese realize their own shortcomings, face their own failures calmly and learn from the West sincerely. Because they are good at learning, the 1936 statistical revolution originated from western countries has become an opportunity for the rise of an Asian country. Being good at learning, this small country has exploded with amazing energy. It took only 15 years to rise from the ruins and keep pace with the most powerful country in the world ... Facing the rise of Japan, we China people should ask ourselves: "Why can't Japan do it?" ? ! (P2 10)
The opening of a country should first point to its inland ... compared with opening to the outside world, opening to the outside world is more important, which determines a country's long-term development and destiny. ..... Opening to the outside world is not only related to citizens' freedom and rights, but also an effective means for the government to manage society, regulate the market and serve economic development. More importantly, with the advent of the era of big data, data will become an important means of production and innovative resources just like the traditional "people, money and things". The degree of opening to the outside world will determine the driving force of a country's development and the vitality of a social innovation. (P2 16)
On the surface, the competition between countries is scientific and technological competition and economic competition, but in the final analysis, it is still the competition of national quality and culture. Without a healthy, rational and progressive culture, it is difficult for a country to be strong. The effort of this book is to try to turn the scientific and technological symbol of data into a cultural symbol in China, turn the topic of big data, a high-end elite, into a popular topic, and let the data culture enter the vision of China people and blend into the consciousness and blood of China people. (page 338)
Data is static history, and history is dynamic data. Fragments of history are free data; The fog of history is fuzzy data; The blind spot of history is the missing data. The history built with data is always vivid because of the precise details. The more abundant the information, the more the later historians can reproduce the society at that time through the information. (page 336)
We study America and learn from it, instead of becoming another America. Learning begins with imitation, but good learning aims at transcendence. For China, even "surpassing the United States" is not the ultimate goal. Our goal is to make more, more outstanding and more cutting-edge contributions to world progress. As Mr. Chai Hongfeng said, we should tell our own stories in the history of human civilization and repeat the glory of our nation. (P343)