The economist John Maynard Keyes once said:
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right
and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood.
Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe
themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually
the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in
the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few
years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly
exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas.
I have always liked that quote and always enjoy warning people about the
tsunami of ideas appearing on the horizon. Most people just ignore the
warning and wake up one morning in a very different world wondering what
happened. But, I enjoy big ideas so I thought I would start a new page to
start cataloging them. Following, in no particular order, are some big ideas
and what I think they mean.
Back in the 1960's people began to realize that what you did with your body, from exercizing to sunbathing to the way you eat, had a major impact on your success, health and well being. Today people are beginning to realize that whay you do with your mind also has major impact on your success, health and well being. The emerging field of Positive Psychology turns away from the traditional questions of how do we fix crazy people to a more progressive question of how can we make the lives of normal people better. Today if you see someone have eggs and sausage for breakfast, a cheeseburge sub with extra mayo and fries for lunch, and then something really decadent for dinner, you think - well that person is heading to an early grave. In the futue we will look at behaviors and habits, beliefs and ideas with the same critical eye. What ideas do you hold that are the cognitive equivalent of a cheeseburge and fries for lunch?
A bette analogy is to compare data with oil. Prior to the mid 1800's when oil drilling first began, all petroleum oil was found seeping up to the surface in pools. Once drilling began oil became plentiful and a great deal of what we take for granted today was a result of plentiful oil. Some examples include the internal combustion engine and all its derivatives; macadam to make highways, plastics, oil heating and even lifestyle items like local gas stations, car styles, drive in movies and so on. If you were to roll back the discovery of oil drilling very little of what we see as daily life would be left.
Big Data is similar in that data like oil has been around for a long time, but not in massive quantities. Massive quantities change things dramatically. What will these changes look like? who knows. Imagine someone in the mid 1800's trying to imagine the automobile, the interstate highway system, and drive in movies. But, even if we can't say exactly what will happen, the changes will be massive.
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