英国卫报:你还在相信统计数据吗?(16)

On the one hand, it is worth recognising the capacity of long-standing political institutions to fight back. Just as "sharing economy" platforms such as Uber and Airbnb have recently been thwarted¹ by legal rulings (Uber being compelled to recognise drivers as employees, Airbnb being banned altogether by some municipal authorities), privacy and human rights law represents a potential obstacle to the extension of data analytics. What is less clear is how the benefits of digital analytics might ever be offered to the public, in the way that many statistical² data sets are. Bodies such as the Open Data Institute, co-founded by Tim Berners-Lee, campaign to make data publicly available, but have little leverage³ over the corporations where so much of our data now accumulates. Statistics began life as a tool through which the state could view society, but gradually developed into something that academics, civic⁴ reformers and businesses had a stake in. But for many data analytics firms, secrecy⁵ surrounding methods and sources of data is a competitive advantage that they will not give up voluntarily.

一方面，值得承认的是，长期存在的政治机构有能力予以反击。正如优步和爱彼迎等“共享经济”平台最近受到法律裁决的阻挠(优步被迫承认司机是雇员，爱彼迎被一些市政当局完全禁止)，隐私和人权法律是数据分析扩展的潜在障碍。数据分析的好处如何以许多统计数据集的方式提供给公众，这一点我们不太清楚。由蒂姆·伯纳斯-李联合创立的“开放数据研究所”等机构致力于让数据公开，但这对如今积累了很多数据的企业并没有什么影响力。统计一开始是国家用来观察社会的工具，但逐渐发展成了和学者、公民改革者和企业都利害攸关的东西。但对于许多数据分析公司来说，对数据方法和来源保密是一种竞争优势，它们不会自愿放弃这种优势。

A post-statistical society is a potentially frightening proposition, not because it would lack any forms of truth or expertise⁶ altogether, but because it would drastically privatise them. Statistics are one of many pillars of liberalism, indeed of Enlightenment. The experts who produce and use them have become painted as arrogant⁷ and oblivious⁸ to the emotional and local dimensions of politics. No doubt there are ways in which data collection could be adapted to reflect lived experiences better. But the battle that will need to be waged in the long term is not between an elite-led politics of facts versus⁹ a populist politics of feeling. It is between those still committed to public knowledge and public argument and those who profit from the ongoing¹⁰ disintegration¹¹ of those things.

后统计社会是一个可怕的潜在命题，不是因为它会完全缺乏任何形式的真相或专业知识，而是因为这会将它们彻底私有化。统计学是自由主义、甚至是启蒙运动的众多支柱之一。制作和使用它们的专家们被描绘成傲慢自大、无视政治情感和地方层面之人。毫无疑问，有很多方法可以使数据收集更好地反映生活经验。但长期而言，需要进行的斗争不是精英主导的事实政治与民粹主义政治之间的斗争，而是那些仍致力于公共知识和公共辩论的人和那些正在瓦解这些东西的人之间的斗争。

1 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

2 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

3 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

4 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

5 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

6 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

7 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

8 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

9 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 disintegration   

n.分散，解体

参考例句：

• This defeat led to the disintegration of the empire.这次战败道致了帝国的瓦解。
• The incident has hastened the disintegration of the club.这一事件加速了该俱乐部的解体。