You say "Day-TA" and I say "Dat-TA".

Have you noticed that the gathering of numerical information which is then fixated into an algorithm  is, in fact, becoming the be all and end all of knowledge in the twenty-first century?  The resulting "data" is then used to extrapolate future scenarios.  For example, in my final years of working for the New York City Department of Education, I worked for the Office of Teacher Development...which has since changed its name to the "Talent Office".  I listened to educational professionals describe the cycle of first year teachers.  This included a time of anticipation, expectation, realization of professional inadequacy, plummeting holiday depression,  rejuvenation and moving forward and plateauing at the end of the school year.  This cycle was documented by "data" collected by those folks who worked with new teachers.  Jeeze!  I could have told them that after spending almost 20 years in the classroom and working with all sorts of  teachers, old and new.  And no, Bill Gates did not have to pay me the big bucks to do the study; all he had to do was ask.

Later in my career, when I was working as a staff developer, I  attended a presentation by a worldwide publishing company who explained how they could extrapolate from the first few years of testing just which second graders would be college material by time they reached high school. Rather scary, don't you think?

But it is not just in the field of education that "Data-dancing" is an everyday occurrence.  At the end of many events I have attended, I have received "evaluation" sheets asking me to tell the presenters "How are they doing?"  In reality, the answers are culled onto some sort of "grid" and turned into valuable "data" for someone in the organization to interpret.

Ever notice how if you call an organization about an issue as common as changing a name or address on your bank account to returning a pair of sneakers that are too small, the person on the phone will ask, "Have I met your expectations for this call?" I never know how to answer that question.  What can I say?  You took my information...I followed your instructions...Goodbye.

Perhaps you have noticed that your computer seems to make assumptions about what you want or might be interested in.  I know that when I get bored, I sometimes look for dumb stuff online...stuff I really won't buy...Stuff like...oh...I don't know....Mallowmars....hum...maybe I would buy them.  Anyway, the internet and your browser will keep track of the sites you  visit and make "suggestions" based on the data it has collected about your preferences.

Our data driven society is annoying me to no end. I do not want to fill out an evaluation form for you or anyone else.  I reply to email follow-ups with a simple reply that reads," I don't do data. Now leave me alone."