Numbers and Nerves: Information, Emotion, and Meaning in a World of Data

by Scott Slovic

We live in the age of Big Data, awash in a sea of ever-expanding information—a constant deluge of facts, statistics, models, and projections. The human mind is quickly desensitized by information presented in the form of numbers, and yet many important social and environmental phenomena, ranging from genocide to global climate change, require quantitative description.

The essays and interviews in Numbers and Nerves explore the quandary of our cognitive responses to quantitative information, while also offering compelling strategies for overcoming insensitivity to the meaning of such information. With contributions by journalists, literary critics, psychologists, naturalists, activists, and others, this book represents a unique convergence of psychological research, discourse analysis, and visual and narrative communication.

At a time of unprecedented access to information, our society is frequently stymied in its efforts to react to the world’s massive problems. Many of these problems are systemic, deeply rooted in seemingly intransigent cultural patterns and lifestyles. In order to sense the significance of these issues and begin to confront them, we must first understand the psychological tendencies that enable and restrict our processing of numerical information.

Numbers and Nerves explores a wide range of psychological phenomena and communication strategies—fast and slow thinking, psychic numbing, pseudoinefficacy, the prominence effect, the asymmetry of trust, contextualized anecdotes, multifaceted mosaics of prose, and experimental digital compositions, among others—and places these in real-world contexts. In the past two decades, cognitive science has increasingly come to understand that we, as a species, think best when we allow numbers and nerves, abstract information and experiential discourse, to work together. This book provides a roadmap to guide that collaboration. It will be invaluable to scholars, educators, professional communicators, and anyone who struggles to grasp the meaning behind the numbers.

Genres: Psychology, Science

Paperback

First published October 15, 2015

Reviews

[Anne Martens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays on how to effectively communicate for causes in a way that elicits emotion. Many of the essays talk about psychic numbing, and give concrete examples of how too many numbers makes people tune out. Other essays discuss strategies for putting big numbers in context, other than the standard personal story tactic since we all know that one. The editors, the Slovic brothers, are painfully boring (despite writing a book on effective communication) so don't feel bad about skipping their sections--their sections almost made me give up on the book, but I'm glad I stuck it out.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays by the likes of Annie Dillard, Rick Bass, Paul Farmer, Nicholas Kristof, Terry Tempest Williams. Sometimes a bit dense, but helps us come to terms with apathy in the face of too much information. We are creatures of compassion and feeling, but also analysis and measurement. How do they blend together? How do we remain sensitive to overwhelming statistics?

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slovic and Slovic crystallize the need for greater numeracy in order for society to address problems of public import -- not just through their selection of essays, but in their poignant framing of the disconnect between numbers and emotion and the role multimodal storytelling can play in helping bridge that divide.

A must-read for anyone interested in the use of quantitative evidence to understand and communicate complex issues in an approachable format.

[Tarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an important book- but I think I was expecting to tell me more that I already didn't know... which is to say the information here isn't particularly new, it it's nice to have it in one place, and it was important to spend more time reflecting on it. I'd certainly recommend it, particularly for those in the business of trying to move people to action.