tech
May 3, 2026
In the Beginning Was the Data
In a previous column, I argued that data is not reality, but a representation of it. Someone might respond: okay, but it's the best representation we have. And they would be right. The problem isn't that we use representations. It's what happens when we stop seeing them as such.
TL;DR
- Data is a representation of reality, not reality itself.
- While data may be the best representation we have, it is still a representation.
- The problem arises when we stop viewing data as a representation and mistake it for reality.