A quantified world
Once we started to describe the world quantitatively, it changed our relationship with our surroundings. Numbers gave us a language for scientific investigation. With that came new confidence that we could have a deeper understanding of how things are. However, we also know that numbers can tell different stories, depending on the metrics we select.The rise of statistics in the mid-19th century introduced the use of metrics in the administration of populations and social life. Today we rely on the statistical measurement of things in public life, the meaning of which is not rooted in numbers, such as value or quality. Measuring these things is about power and governance, as it gives a secure way to translate economic, cultural and social life into financial language. The language of organisations is the language of numbers.
Digitisation helped quantification become even more important in both public and private lives. It enables real-time monitoring and even algorithmic measurement of online environments. Today we experience the everyday in a quantified way. We develop a ‘feeling for numbers’ that links anxieties, emotions and expectations to numbers, as well as introducing concerns about constant surveillance.
Do you know who collects our data? How is it collected? How are the indicators that measure the world set? How do we measure concepts like growth, happiness or quality?
How to measure a country?
Numbers can modify our perception of reality. For example, when looking at a country’s GDP, education or health indicators, we see that each number tells a different story about the same place. How can we understand if our country is doing well or poorly? Does a country have enough good quality data to base its decisions on resources, people or innovation potential on data analysis? Does data hide any grey areas and potential problems? Does the small size of the country cause fluctuations in data? Does it mean that data-based decision-making becomes more random and insecure?
Energy dependency: low or high?
Estonia currently has one of the highest energy independencies in Europe, a rate that has steadily increased since 1990. However, this high independency is quite conditional because it is largely based on using local oil shale, so we can see that energy independence does not rely solely on contemporary technologies.
The country of the unicorns
Estonia is a unicorn country – it currently has 10 unicorns. If the current course continues, tech startups will become unicorns so quickly that the sector will grow into the largest taxpayer in Estonia and occupy a third of the economy, according to the prediction of investor and expert in the startup sector Sten Tamkivi.
Are forests protected?
According to the statistics, the number of strict forest reserves in Estonia is increasing steadily. Yet, there is criticism that Estonia does not have sufficient data on which to base forest policy decisions. The forest industry plans to increase the volume of felling leading to a heated debate about whether forestry policy is sustainable.
I track...
The units we use for measuring say a lot about us. About how we perceive and relate to the world and, specifically, about what currently matters. We measure economic growth in money and the effects of climate change in emitted CO2. Interestingly, the units we choose are not closed, unchangeable practices, although they are a key to thinking about the world we want to live in. What if we measured growth in years of peace instead of money? What effect could that have?
This collaborative piece asks you to do just that, to use your imagination to invent new units. Units that are more relatable and human. Units that your life is worth being measured in.
Photos: ENM, Domestic Data Streamers