I run into the "you can't make policy by anecdotes" or "anecdotes aren't data" argument so many times I wrote a blog post explaining why individual incidents (e.g., the Comcast/Netflix thing) are important in policy and what the "no anecdotes" rule really means.
Short version: what we have is a failure to appreciate the Problem of the Black Swan -- which has nothing to do with either Nicholas Talibi or Natalie Portman.
Long version:
