Re:Big data, Google and the end of free will
by sgt101 on Sunday August 28, 2016 @03:13PM
(#12377989)
I think it's important because it flags that there is a school of thought (that the author doesn't side with or against) that denies humanism and theism and instead owns that observations and calculations are a better way of understanding our place in the universe than empathy with the human spirit or the purpose of a divine spirit.
This is an inversion of science's place in ontology and epistemology (I hope I've got the spelling that indicates theory of knowledge, not vaginal surgery), previously science has not spoken about our inner lives and destiny, now people believe that it can say everything.
This is a shift that has happened twice before so it's quite something.
However. It is an important read, in my opinion.
Because this is well rendered and well formatted summation of the rhetoric people use to argue against scaled analytics and the collection of data. Understanding the counter arguments and motivation behind this article is a good step to interfacing with people uncomfortable with these ideas.