Click to learn more about author Mackenzie Thompson.

Interpreting data is an exercise in humility. It reminds us how presumptuous we can be and how wrong our presumptions often are. Without data, we would be ignorant about many things and unaware of a great deal more, including the needs of our own citizens and the interests of communities nationwide.

Nowhere is this rule more relevant than it is within the world of health and wellness. For example: Without data, many of us would conclude that seeing is indeed believing. We would, in turn, make less important matters our highest priority. We would overlook big challenges and turn little obstacles into huge problems.

We would translate our perceptions into reality, despite the absence of facts. We would replace information with instinct. We would reveal how little we know, in contrast to how much we think we know in spite of the available evidence.

Without data, I would not know that more people from the United States access my organization’s online certification courses on CPR than any other nation. Without data, I might allow images to dictate the direction of policy and personnel.

I say that because I would have little or nothing to guide me. I would be as susceptible to what I can see but not verify as I would be vulnerable to what I can neither see nor prove. I would do my best to do the right thing, which does not mean I would achieve the right outcome.

I say that because appearances are deceiving. Which is to say the United States has abundant resources and many of the world’s most resourceful doctors, nurses, and first responders.

I say that because I see what most Americans also see: headlines about our lead in science and technology, in addition to stories about breakthroughs involving treatments for cancer and other diseases.

And yet, I would not have the whole story. I might not even have a fraction of the truth.

Data is a more independent and reliable narrator. It gives us the material to tell a story—to tell the story—instead of what we may not want to hear or desire to know. If we do not like the story, we can change the ending by being agents of change. We can forgo words and let our actions speak for themselves.

Before we act, we would be wise to remember the value of data.

We would not have to worry about the soundness of our decisions or the decisive nature of our actions. We would not have to trouble ourselves with preconceived notions, when data would show us the path forward.

Data is an asset to acquire. We should apply it with confidence and accuracy. The latter begets the former, meaning the more we can prove—the more we know something is true—the more we can do to help each other.

Such is the power of data.

Such is the life-saving quality of CPR and data.

Such is our summons to greatness.