Big Data Discussion
Big Data: “extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions.”
Data Anxiety: “the fear that all the data we are shedding every day is too revealing of our intimate selves but may also misrepresent us.”
Who are the watch dogs?
The big question: “What are we to data?”
Is “big data” just a buzz word?
OPTING OUT
Why is there a trend in our generation to be increasingly concerned about our online privacy?
Is it possible to opt-out from big data collection?
“Normcore”
Normcore: disappearing into the crowd, “dangerously regular” — Urban Dictionary
Are people more focused on blending in?
Where else (other than fashion) do we see examples of normcore?
Is big data changing the way people act?
The truth about big data?
The Utah Data Center is a data storage facility that houses the information collected by the NSA over the Internet. The government owns the data center as part of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, but its exact mission is classified. It is the first and only data center of its kind. Forbes estimates the storage capacity as between 3 and 12 exabytes, and it is expected to increase its capacity by orders of magnitude.
Is this too much data?
Why do attitudes towards big data collection differ when it is done by the government versus the private sector?
In ‘The Anxieties of Big Data” Kate Crawford says that “the current mythology of big data is that with more data comes greater accuracy and truth.” When this much data is being collected is it still useful?
How do you analyze all this data?
In Kate Crawford’s article Anxiety of Big Data she says,
“no matter how much data they have, it is always incomplete, and the sheer volume can overwhelm the critical signals in a fog of possible correlations.”
This “fog of possible correlations” is synonymous with “correlation doesn’t mean causation” to me. She gives these examples:
What is interesting about these correlations is that they are findings that a computer found using a program. And for just a split second, you questioned if people who drowned in swimming pools increased when films with Nicolas Cage came out.
That is where the commuter’s analysis ended, after finding that correlation. However, your analysis didn’t end there. Can someone explain their thought processes after looking at this graph?
Should we put our phones down?
vs.
Do you agree that today’s young generation is too tech-addicted? Is the habit of relying on digital data for everything we do largely benefiting our society? What could be the problems when kids grow up with iPads as their biggest recreation?
The Internet will celebrate its 50th birthday in a few months. Are you happy with the way Internet-based technologies have developed so far?
With algorithms based on matrices of big data, we have the power to predict the future with greater accuracy. In a sense, the future has already happened as we capture the moment when the future emerges into the present. Do you think this predictablilty helps you enjoy a more organized and stable way of life?
