The Ascent of Geekdom

In case you haven't heard, the geeks won:

Applause for the Numbers Machine, by Richard Thaler, Commentary, NY Times: The biggest winners on Election Day weren’t politicians; they were numbers folks. Computer scientists, behavioral scientists, statisticians and everyone who works with data should be proud. They told us who was going to win, but they also helped to make many of those victories happen.

Three groups of geeks deserve the love they rarely receive: people who run political polls, those who analyze the polls and those who figure out how to help campaigns connect with voters. ...

Pundits making forecasts, some of whom had mocked the poll analysts, didn’t fare as well, and many failed miserably. ... Smart pundits should consider either abandoning this activity, or consulting with the geeks before rendering their guesses. ...

There should be something reassuring about this Obama campaign efficiency to all Americans, even those who supported Mr. Romney based on his success in business. When it came to the business of running a campaign, it was the former professor and community organizer who had the more technologically savvy organization and made more effective use of its resources, including geek power.