Journey

It's likely that your professor/instructor/TA said something like this as s/he began the first meeting of your Calculus 101 course:

Calculus isn't all that difficult. If you can grasp the concept of The Limit, you're 90% there.

Well... not so much. There's a fearsome amount of algebra along the way of your 2, 3, or 4 semester (term) journey. If you get through unscathed, you might opt for diff eq next. Unless you're a maths major, in which case it isn't a choice.

It's also likely that your professor/instructor/TA said something like this as s/he began the first meeting of your Baby Stats course:

Statistics isn't all that difficult. If you can grasp the concept of Correlation, you're 90% there.

Well... again, not so much. There's a fearsome amount of algebra along the way; if your intention is beyond Baby Stats. Many take one semester/term Baby Stats courses without any intention of further study, and their previous experience with something math-y was whatever constituted Senior Math in high school; likely trig. High schools now routinely offer calculus, but not as a requirement.

And therein lies the rub. I suspect it's because sports data are routinely referred as "statistics", that the general population views the study as trivial. 99.44% of folks think that's all there is to "statistics". It ain't so simple. Of the myriad fields of study that are categorized as STEM, I'd wager stats is the one mostly (only?) viewed as something one can 'pick up at work' or such. And that is the result of a host of stat packs that go all the way back to big iron mainframes and the likes of BMDP, and have continued to SAS and SPSS and R run on the PC. Anyone with a pile of data, a stat pack (and R is 'free'), and said PC can 'do statistics'. Gad.

Would you drive across a bridge that was designed by a civil engineer who 'picked it up' watching a real one in the office? I thought not. But you'll consume "statistics" run by folks who don't have a clue and/or a nasty (from your point of view, of course) agenda. You get what you pay for.

And there's a problem

I know more about nuclear weapons than he'll ever know.

So sayeth the BA in real estate econ. That link is a treaure trove more. It's disquieting seeing them all in one place. There will be more, I guarantee it.

It's going to be a rocky ride. The Office of Data Integrity will likely be run by Trump's Chef. And the Office of Media Integrity by Steve Bannon.