The End of Science
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Saved by 1 people (0 private), first by anonymouse user on 2008-06-29
- Imrchen on 2008-06-29 - Tags data mining , thinking
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It's the distinction between engineering and science. They work in a mutualistic feedback loop, but they are very conceptually different at the core.
Highlighted by imrchen
An engineer, e.g., one at Google, may or may not care exactly how something works, or whether it has explanatory power that extends beyond what he is working on. His primary concern is that it just works.
Highlighted by imrchen
A scientist is primarily concerned with questions of ontology, trying to figure out what the true state of the universe is. They may actually come at the problem from the bottom-up (more data driven) or the top-down (more theory driven). But their goal is understanding, not a workable product
Highlighted by imrchen
I think that's the key distinction that Anderson is missing, and so it's just silly to suggest that the torrent of data and data mining techniques are going to render standard science obsolete.
Highlighted by imrchen
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