The Essence and Beauty of Data Collection and Presentation: Truth Well Told
“Once awareness is free,
intent will redirect it into a new evolutionary path.”
- Carlos Castaneda
Last year, I read an article on the Business Daily, about the other side of Biofuels. Specifically, their effects on poor economies in Africa. Within that article, there was an argument about how big a carbon footprint these same biofuels do have. Well, that got me thinking. Consider the following:
the figures speak for themselves: 232 kilos of maize are needed to produce 50 litres of ethanol — roughly enough to fill an average car tank, or enough to provide the amount of calories a child needs in a year. . .
. . . Several international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organisation, have acknowledged in recent years that the increasing demand for biofuel crops has catastrophic social, economic and nutritional impacts on developing countries and their already tense food resources. Despite this, several African states have drafted policies in favour of biofuel crops.
It actually reminded me of certain comments on a recent Green Kenya post regarding the ecological impact of large scale cultivation of Eucalyptus (blue gum) trees. Consider the following comment:
“chris chisanga
April 8th, 2009I would love to get detailed research showing how eucalyptus negatively affects the soil. because i dont believe that it does”
The above arguments point to a dire need for credible information. Only when backed by solid and undeniable facts, is information worth standing by. And that introduces the essence of information gathering, analysis and presentation.
At this point, I am reminded of the awesome TED talk by Hans Rosling where he proved that with the right tools, data analysis and presentation can actually be interesting. Watch the TED talk below:
Watch, read reviews and download the above video on the TED web site.
Last year, Erik Hersman made a short presentation at TED about how texting helped Kenyans survive crisis. This was done on the Ushahidi platform during the 2007/8 post election crisis in Kenya. The Ushahidi engine went on to win an award and has been implemented in other crisis areas. The most recent implementation is the devastating Haiti earthquake.
Watch Erik’s presentation below:
Watch, read reviews and download the above video on the TED web site. Erik made mention of this talk on White African too.
Looking at the above two TED talks, and bearing in mind how people will invariably offer counter claims and arguments on just about anything, this clearly underscores the need for credible and verifiable information on matters that affect many.
Let us learn, share and seek to be enlightened on matters that affect our lives.
