Hi there! I am your average geek. The one that loves Anime and Problem Solving. Unsurprisingly the two things I fangirl over, are Naruto and Data Science.
The more I delve into the world of data science, the more I begin to relate it to the way the anime Naruto was made.
Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, that tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who searches for recognition,and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. And Data Science is, well, Data Science!
The obvious question here is, “How are they related?”
Allow me to explain. *clears throat*
I like to think of Mr. Masashi Kishimoto, as a data scientist. He has created an award winning anime with over 1100 characters, the entire list of which can be found here. The number of characters in this anime are more than the last known population of Vatican City. If the parameters for each character were to be taken, we would end up with one hell of a data set.
Each of these characters (data) in this anime (data set) have their own background, importance, and an impact in an epic story line. The way Kishi formulates the relationship of each character, with the other and the protagonist is truly commendable. The outcome of each of these relationships, prove how essential each character is.
Much like a data scientist, Kishi dug through his set of characters (data mining) and generated new plots(information). Despite the anime being his personal creation and him owning the story, A lot of research had to be carried out, to determine the future outcomes his characters could produce (predictive analysis).
After thorough analysis, say, now Kishi had his story ready, and his anime up and running, he still had to keep people interested in what he had to offer. He had to constantly have his story reviewed and collect feedback based on what interested people the most. He had to predict the trend and alter or remodel (predictive modeling) the plot to stay on top of the humongous, ever competitive, industry of Anime.
Kishi did all these relations in his brain. He built an imaginary dataframe and kept pushing and pulling the data from it. He created meaning out of that data. He fabricated one of the most inspirational and greatest stories ever told with that data.
Like Kishi, every data scientist in the world, is an artist who makes the data talk. He converts a bunch of letters or numbers or symbols, into a story never told before. With every single piece of information he obtains, he tries to bring forth either the good or the bad in the main character. He brainstorms the changes that need to be made to ensure the main character remains the HERO of the story being told. Here the main character can be anything from a consumer product to global warming.
So to all the amazing data scientists out there, keep up the awesome work you do and let the future rely upon the tales you tell. And whenever you feel unsuccessful in your quest for the insight, just remember these words that Naruto utters every time he is in the verge of failure.
“I will never give up. Believe it.”
