Mind that data is never objective

  • data-society
  • idea
  • winter

Mind that data doesn't perfectly represent reality, it's always only its biased reflection

"Data is always translated to what they might be presented. The images, lists, graphs, and maps that represent those data are all interpretations, and there is no such thing as neutral data. Data is always collected for a specific purpose, by a combination of people, technology, money, commerce, and government.

The maps are their own territory, their own objective reality, not just a reflection of the real world but a branch of it."

Ergo, "Data is not objective and the maps themselves have biases. Showing how the data can be hacked and manipulated is like pointing out the Emperor has no clothes."

Wreckert was showing us all how data and maps can affect the world they're meant to chart. "Maps have the potential as an instrument of power," he said. "They substitute political and military power in a way that represents the state borders between territories and they can repeat, legitimate, and construct the differences of classes and social self-understandings."

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