Global data created per year

Between 2015 and 2021, global data creation and US choking deaths on food both grew, correlating at 0.9659 across seven data points. The implication that the world's exponentially growing data output is somehow lodging in American throats is physically impossible but emotionally resonant—the sheer volume of information produced each year does feel like it's choking us all. Seven data points of two upward-trending series is not a finding. It is a coincidence that happens to sound like a metaphor.

Global data created per year grew from approximately 15 zettabytes in 2015 to over 79 zettabytes by 2021, driven by IoT devices, video streaming, social media, and cloud computing. US choking deaths rose due to the aging population, with the over-65 demographic expanding and accounting for the majority of fatal food obstruction events. Both trends are driven by independent forces—digital infrastructure expansion and demographic aging—across a window too short to draw conclusions.

Seven data points is a coincidence, not a correlation. Two series rising over seven years will almost always produce a high r-value, which measures direction, not meaning.