One often hears that "data are not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom". But what will turn data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom? The first two facets of this question are at the core of every university course in statistics. They provide a motivation for understanding statistical description and statistical inference, respectively. It is the third facet, the getting of wisdom, which adds depth, resilience and realism to that understanding, yet its importance is often underrated in professional statistics programs. Crucial to the getting of wisdom in this context is a competence to argue back to a statistic and to criticise a statistical argument. Imparting this competence should be a vital concern in designing the program syllabus. In this paper I argue that, by adding a little to the syllabus, such a program can also aid the statistician in opening up for his/her client the client's own path to statistical knowledge and wisdom. Such a move constructively addresses an abiding social issue: the need to enhance the level of numeracy in our alarmingly innumerate society.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education