The world is ruled by numbers. More and more often, decisions are made not by people, but by mathematical models. Numbers measure everything from our success in education and work and the state of our health to the state of the economy and political achievements. But the numbers are not as objective as they might seem. In addition, we are more willing to believe numbers that confirm our opinions, and easily reject those results that go against our beliefs... Analyzing examples of handling numerical data in the fields of health, politics, sociology, scientific research, commerce and other fields and Shedding light on a number of common misconceptions, Dutch journalist and digital literacy specialist Sanne Blau encourages us to think critically and advises us to be more careful, whether we are talking about the everyday numbers that govern our well-being, or the statistics that enable those who use them , achieve enormous power and influence. “Numbers influence what we drink, what we eat, where we work, how much we earn, where we live, who we marry, who we vote for, how we decide whether to take out a mortgage, how we pay for insurance. Moreover, they even influence whether we get sick or recover, live or die. We have no choice; even if we are not interested in numbers, numbers rule our lives. The purpose of this book is to make the world of numbers less mysterious so that everyone can recognize when numbers are used correctly and when they are abused. So we can all ask: What role do we want numbers to play in our lives?” (Sanne Blau) The publishing layout is saved in PDF A4 format.