Numbers Are Only a Proxy

As a society, we often treat numbers as the ground truth. Whether it's the economy at large, the performance of a company, or likes on a social media post, we tend to rely heavily on numerical data. The truth is, numbers are only a way for us to approximate reality, never reality itself. There is an inherent limitation in numbers. Consequently, all inferences, models, or predictions based on these numbers will carry this inherent limitation within them. And this is fine, as long as we maintain awareness that numbers are merely a proxy for ground truth and never the absolute truth itself.