The folly of data mining
The problem we face today is not data scarcity but surfeit – and big data sets can easily be mined and tortured to identify patterns that are utterly useless
Add BT as a preferred source
GARY SMITH
COFFEE was wildly popular in Sweden in the 17th century — and also illegal. King Gustav III believed that it was a slow poison and devised a clever experiment to prove it. He commuted the sentences of murderous twin brothers who were waiting to be beheaded, on one condition: One brother had to drink three pots of coffee every day while the other drank three pots of tea. The early death of the coffee-drinker would prove that coffee was poison.
It turned out that the coffee-drinking twin outlived the tea drinker, but it wasn’t until the 1820s that Swedes were finally legally permitted to do what they had been doing all along — drink coffee, lots of coffee.
TRENDING NOW
On the board but frozen out: The Taib family feud tearing Sarawak construction giant apart
Is it time to scrap COE categories for cars?
Thai and Vietnamese farmers may stop planting rice because of the Iran war. Here’s why
Former manager with DBS Bank admits cheating 7 victims, including his uncle, of over S$1 million
