The Dangers of Data-Based Certainty

April 15, 2021 07:50 am

Friends of mine who work in the arts and humanities have started doing something unusual, at least for them: poring over data. This is due to the pandemic, of course. Every day, they check COVID-19 case numbers, how slowly or quickly the R factor is declining, and how many people in our area got vaccinated the day before.

Rajan Lal Joshi is a lecturer at Patan Campus. He researches Newari folklore and teaches it to his students as well. But when he isn’t working, often he is on the road, travelling around the country and beyond.

AFGHANISTAN, Nov 22: Sitting cross-legged on the floor of a sparsely decorated Kabul apartment, the young, bubbly woman told me why she lies to her neighbors.