God killed by Big Data

The ideal of identifying causal mechanisms is a self-congratulatory illusion ; big data overturns this.

Yet again, we are at a historical impasse where God is dead. That is to say, the certainties that we believe in are once again changing. But this time, they are being replaced, ironically, by better evidence.

In many ways, the way we control and handle data will have to change. We‘re entering a world of constant data-driven predictions where we may not be able to explain the reason behind our decisi

on.

What role is left for intuition, faith uncertainty, acting in contradiction of

the evidence and learning by experience.

As the world shifts from causation to correlation, how can we pragmatically move forward without undermining the ver

y foundations of society, humanity, and progress based on reason.

M.-S. & K.C.