Quotes by Mathematicians

The rule which should guide us in such cases is simple and obvious enough: that the aggregate testimony of our neighbours is subject to the same conditions as the testimony of any one of them. William Kingdon Clifford
Simple Enough Our Rule Guide Neighbours Cases Obvious Testimony Subject Conditions Same Any Which Them Us Should Aggregate
Namely, we have no right to believe a thing true because everybody says so unless there are good grounds for believing that some one person at least has the means of knowing what is true, and is speaking the truth so far as he knows it. William Kingdon Clifford
Truth Good Believe Everybody Unless Says Some He True Namely Knowing Knows Because Least Person Far Means Speaking Grounds Believing Right Thing
We may always depend on it that algebra, which cannot be translated into good English and sound common sense, is bad algebra. William Kingdon Clifford
Good Depend Sense Algebra Bad Always Sound May Common Cannot Which Common Sense Translated English
A century ago the Spanish flu confounded scientists and devastated whole regions, but while today's society has air travel and an enormous, heterogeneous population, we also have antibiotics, fantastic communication networks and, perhaps most crucially, more data than ever. Hannah Fry
Today Travel Communication Flu Society Enormous Air Air Travel Data More Networks Devastated Perhaps Most Also Scientists Antibiotics Than While Spanish Confounded Regions Fantastic Century Whole Population Ever
But for me, true art can't be created by accident. There are boundaries to the reach of algorithms. Limits to what can be quantified. Among all of the staggeringly impressive, mindboggling things that data and statistics can tell me, how it feels to be human isn't one of them. Hannah Fry
Art Me Accident Tell Statistics Data True True Art Boundaries Feels Reach How Limits Impressive Human Them Created Among Things
Every criminal-justice system has to find some kind of balance between protecting the rights of innocent people falsely accused of crimes and protecting the victims of crimes. Hannah Fry
Rights Balance People Innocent Every Innocent People Crimes System Kind Find Some Between Protecting Falsely Accused Victims
We should actively be thinking about what our inventions would look like if exploited by someone with a less of a moral compass and decide if the world would really be better off with them in it. Hannah Fry
World Better Thinking Our Moral Would Moral Compass About Someone Inventions Better Off Like Look Off Decide Them Exploited Really Should Less Actively Compass
In our urge to automate, in our eagerness to adopt the latest innovations, we appear to have developed a habit of unthinkingly handing over power to machines. Hannah Fry
Power Innovations Our Latest Machines Adopt Habit Developed Over Unthinkingly Handing Urge Appear Eagerness
But the threat of a pandemic is different from that of a nerve agent, in that a disease can spread uncontrollably, long after the first carrier has succumbed. Hannah Fry
Long First Pandemic Carrier Threat Nerve Spread Disease Different After Agent Succumbed
You can harvest any data that you want, on anybody. You can infer any data that you like, and you can use it to manipulate them in any way that you choose. And you can roll out an algorithm that genuinely makes massive differences to people's lives, both good and bad, without any checks and balances. Hannah Fry
Good You People Differences Algorithm Way Harvest Out Bad Data Both Checks Like Checks And Balances Massive Balances Without Makes Genuinely Infer Roll Any Anybody Want Manipulate Them Good And Bad Use Choose Lives
Our long-range predictions - especially those which anticipate extreme-weather events - rely on an assumption that the future will be similar to the past. Lose that, and we lose the tools that have allowed us to prepare for such eventualities. Hannah Fry
Future Events Will Lose Past Assumption Tools Our Those Similar Rely Allowed Anticipate Which Predictions Us Prepare
We're living in an age where new technology offers gigantic upsides - artificial intelligence has the potential to diagnose cancer, catch serial killers and reduce prison populations. Hannah Fry
Technology Age Artificial Intelligence Intelligence Cancer Prison Living Gigantic Potential Catch New Reduce Offers New Technology Artificial Where Serial
I certainly think there are some skills we'll lose as we hand things over to automation. I can barely remember my own phone number now, let alone the long list of numbers I used to know, and my handwriting has completely gone to pot. Hannah Fry
Alone Phone Remember Long Lose Own Automation Gone Think Phone Number I Can Some Pot My Own Long List Over Know Hand Handwriting List Barely Skills Used Certainly Now Things Number Numbers
Because for me, equations and symbols aren't just a thing. They're a voice that speaks out about the incredible richness of nature and the startling simplicity in the patterns that twist and turn and warp and evolve all around us, from how the world works to how we behave. Hannah Fry
Nature Me World Simplicity Incredible Out Evolve All-Around About Voice Because Around Equations How Behave Just Patterns Turn Us Warp Richness Speaks Works Thing Twist Symbols Startling
Every time you shop online, every time you sign up for a newsletter, or register on a website, or enquire about a new car, or fill out a warranty card, or buy a new home, or register to vote - you are unwittingly handing over a small clue as to who you are and how you behave. Hannah Fry
Website Buy Time Home You Vote Car Every Every Time Sign Out About Online Small Over New New Car How Up Handing Behave Shop Clue Register Warranty Who Fill Card
Whenever we haven't got enough information to make decisions for ourselves, we have a habit of copying the behaviour of those around us. Hannah Fry
Enough Those Ourselves Habit Make Around Got Behaviour Whenever Information Decisions Us Copying
And anytime a programmer makes a decision about how to deal with data, how to average it or clean it, you're imparting more of your own bias on it. Hannah Fry
You Decision Own About Imparting Data More Clean Bias Deal Makes How Anytime Average Your Programmer
No weather forecaster can tell you for sure when to wear a rain slicker, stock up on canned goods, or evacuate a city that's in a cyclone's path. All forecasters can offer is their best guess at the atmosphere of the future, whispered by the simulated blue marble and wrapped up in uncertainty. Hannah Fry
Future Best You Rain Path Weather Guess Tell City Wear Wrapped Atmosphere Uncertainty Simulated Goods Sure Up Stock Offer Blue Canned Whispered Marble
The weather doesn't respect political or geographic boundaries: we're all living under the same sky. And so weather prediction has been a marvel not only of technology but also of international cooeperation. Hannah Fry
Technology Respect Political Sky Weather Living Has-Been Only Marvel Boundaries Also Geographic Been Same Prediction International
When designing algorithms as a business owner, your incentive is your profit, something for your business, it's not an incentive to maximise something for the individual. Hannah Fry
Business Profit Something Individual Owner Business Owner Your Incentive Designing
It's true that you can't take an individual rain droplet and say where it's come from or where it's going to end up. But you can say with pretty good certainty whether it will be cloudy tomorrow. Hannah Fry
Good You Rain Tomorrow Will Say Pretty Pretty Good Individual Take True Come End Up Going Where Cloudy Whether Certainty
The best couples, or the most successful couples, are the ones with a really low negativity threshold. These are the couples that don't let anything go unnoticed and allow each other some room to complain. Hannah Fry
Best Threshold Other Complain Negativity Unnoticed Some Allow Most Couples Go Anything Low Room Really Successful Each
In every community, there are a number of 'social super-spreaders' among us. Long-suspected and emphatically confirmed by our data, these are people who - through dint of their job, or lifestyle, or perhaps even genetic makeup - would be more dangerous in the instance of a pandemic than the average person. Hannah Fry
People Dangerous Job Community Every Pandemic Our Would Would-Be Data More Through Lifestyle Instance Genetic Perhaps Makeup Than Person Confirmed Social Average Us Average Person Who Even Among Number
When you don't have diversity in the creative process, you inevitably end up with a single, narrow perspective in the output. Hannah Fry
You Creative Perspective Creative Process Diversity Single Output Narrow Inevitably End Up Process
So my favorite online dating website is OkCupid, not least because it was started by a group of mathematicians. Hannah Fry
Website Group Favorite Online Dating Because Least Mathematicians Started
At some point in the future - possibly the very near future - Britain will be hit by a deadly pandemic, and its impact could be utterly devastating. Hannah Fry
Future Will Pandemic Possibly Impact Some Point Could Devastating Deadly Very Hit Near Utterly Britain
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