Because Quote by Gloria Steinem
“If you hear a statistic, you will make up a story to go with it, because our brains are organized on narrative. And you may very well make up a wrong story because you only have one fact, which is a statistic.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Gloria Steinem on media perception, 2020
People instinctively create narratives around numbers, often fabricating misleading stories from a single data point.
In simple terms: We turn stats into stories, sometimes wrong ones.
Key Takeaway
Question data before believing a statistic.
Themes
cognition
storytelling
bias
statistics
critical thinking
Mood
skeptical
analytical
curious
Type
analytical
cautionary
When to use this quote
- media analysis
- research
- public speaking
- education
- decision making
Key Concepts
Narrative bias
confirmation bias
information processing
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify the story behind a statistic?
- What safeguards can prevent narrative bias?
A Different Perspective
Stories can oversimplify complex data, leading to false conclusions.
