Rise of the Data Illiterati
Inspired By An Epic Display of Ignorance in the US Senate
Life often out does fiction. Too bad it is such a tragedy… or is it a comedy? It is definitely a confederacy.
You have to love Swift. Life is satire. And, at least by Swift’s definition, Zuckerberg is now a true genius… ah, how our standards have fallen…
Of course, I am probably being too hard on the Senate. In fairness, a small handful managed not to sound completely stupid or disconnected. I don’t think anyone asked about a series of tubes… so there is that. But as far as a group of people go…
Or maybe I am being too hard on Zuckerberg? After all, he spent a full day in front of a never ending stream of … stupid. That has to pull you down. Still, I really don’t think he understands data half as well as he could… or should.
But maybe he is a true genius? He is a billionaire after all. Although, don’t we have plenty of evidence that billionaire does not equal smart… sadly, probably not.
Or maybe that is just a grand opportunity for more comedy! And tragedy…
I suppose this is a big “win” for the Data Literacy crew. They have been beating us over the head with their nonsense for years.
Wait, why are you being so negative right now?
Sigh. Perhaps, too many tragedies… but honestly — experience. You see the data literacy people aren’t beating our Senators over the head… one can only dream. If they were, it would likely only be to ask for hand outs and grants. But more sadly… even if they were targeting the right people with the right intention, they aren’t even focused on the right thing!
Too many people have no idea what data is!
The literacy crowd is busy worrying about people finding and understanding it. How about defining it! How about a mission where people recognize what data is? Where the NSA doesn’t get a pass by yelling “metadata”. Where we stop pretending that Facebook collects more data than your cable box (and those guys are selling it… or trying to).
What if we all understood that data is atomic. It is has more in common with air, energy, or water. It is everywhere. And yet, completely different from all of those…
You see, data is not destroyed once it is used (except it some predictive senses). It is perhaps more like “the Force”. It is also shared, by definition. Your name, your address, your social security or phone number are only valuable because other people recognize them. They aren’t private. So what is all this noise about ownership?
Putting a hashtag in front of a phrase does not make you right or smart.
You can’t own data any better than you can own the air. You can collect it. You can store it. You can use it for good, evil, or the more popular otherwise… but ownership just doesn’t apply.
Even if it did, if I am totally wrong, why are you targeting Facebook?
The NSA, Visa & Mastercard, the credit bureaus (and FICO), the IRS, the telecoms, and ISPs — all have endless reams of far more actionable information about you. So does Google, Amazon, and Apple. Facebook is so far down this list. Especially in the world defined by the data illiterati… I would say “their minds” but I am afraid most have lost them…
You see, lots of people seem to believe that pictures are NOT data. They also don’t recognize that all data is (by definition — which again they don’t know) transmitted. So any data (or pictures) you send to anyone is potentially collected along the way. Sorry Snapchat users! And even if those transferring agents and the governing bodies that spy on them (read NSA) ONLY RETAIN THE META-DATA… that is just more data!
There is one good thing about the ignorant masses. They may not embrace literacy… data, financial, does anyone read a book anymore? or otherwise. And they may not do anything helpful… BUT they are easily distracted.
This, according to the internet, proves just how intelligent they really are! Sigh… but thanks for reading! And enjoy the show!
Data Illiteracy has been believed to cause cancer in kittens — protect yourself by reading the following:
#SaveTheKittens
