David Brooks is not thinking straight about big data

David Brooks is doing the public no favors in his column today in which he suggests, among other things, that analysis of big data is devoid of human interpretation, bias, or judgment. (I am looking forward to reading "Big Data" by Viktor-Mayer Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier.) Leaving aside the headline, which Brooks may not have written, the commenters take the argument apart pretty well. I would just add one more thing: Mr. Brooks gave Jim Manzi's "Uncontrolled" a pretty big push last year. Has he forgotten what he said then? Big data is big data.

You can read my review of "Uncontrolled" here. And if you haven't read it yet, you should.