Joy Of Data

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6oKriR-RjM

A Reflection, 2017

We’re all part of a bigger, complex system and data guards it. Joy of Data made me think of this most of all- To solve problems through design, we must look for opportunity areas coming with proof from analyzing data. Data, the root of all knowledge. Data connects and translates our tangible, messy world for us to the ordered world of mathematics, where everything can be captured beautifully with equations, says mathematician Hannah Fry and I agree. Varying events in our everyday lives, guided by the constant time in itself is immense data that we are capturing more and more everyday. The task is to spot the pattern, map the equation and then look for possibilities of change, or methods to retain the existing pattern.

What surprised me most of all was that over the past year, I’ve learned to believe that technologies grew out of the military need for ammunition and scientist’s curiosity to explore what technology can do, which is true as well. What I failed to connect before was that the need, obvious or latent came from collective behavior/need/demand that grew in numbers capturing attention. And that applies everywhere, from where the world was a hundred years ago to where it will be in 2119. It is a powerful entity with the potential to grow and shadow humanity, providing explanations when we seek them, empowering us to be in control of the world.