Overquantification

Data are our industry's raw material. Our challenge is to add value by transforming them into meaningful and actionable information. Too narrow a focus on a “scientific” approach exposes us to the risk of overquantification—when ever-more precise measurement and ever-more complex models and calculations become substitutes for human judgment. This risk is increasing as the information age envelops us. Effective hedging requires equal emphasis on a “humanist” approach that demands creative, qualitative, hermeneutic skills, such as the use of analogies and metaphors; an awareness of human and social psychology; and a contrarian style that forever seeks to falsify.