4 ms·

The best data scientists are curious and entrepreneurial

27 points by abhishektwr 15y ago

feralchimp 15y ago
"The best X's are curious and entrepreneurial." a) well okay, sure, for large swaths of X b) ...and so are the worst X's. And when X is "data science" we should be interested in telling those stories too The leaked HBGary emails provide a pretty clear example of entrepreneurship destroying one particular curious mind's capacity for doing hard science. Money isn't evil, but it's a filter on perspective that in many, many people turns their capacity for skeptical research to absolute shit.
- spaznode 15y ago
  Since I work daily with a group of these "data scientists", I can only assume your comment indicates that you have no idea what you're talking about.
  - pessimizer 15y ago
    That's not an argument, just a weird insult.
    - spaznode 15y ago
      You're right, it was an insult. It is nonetheless still true.
- partition 15y ago
  Can I get some background on what the leaked HBGary emails are, I'm curious.
- omlette 15y ago
  i think youre confusing entrepreneurial with lack of integrity and mental discipline.
kevinalexbrown 15y ago
Defining Data Science as "exploration and invention" and Business Intelligence as "the same old reporting on the top of big data" is just silly. You can't just say "Data Science is inventive, innovative, and great Statistics" but "Business Intelligence" is old, crotchety, bad Statistics. That just seems pedantic to me.
- spaznode 15y ago
  The thing is that you really ~can~ just say that. Statistical analysts aren't f-ing around when it comes to analyzing data and are capable of some extremely magical things that you can't just "pick up" randomly simply by working on data a lot. Just like you can't randomly understand the fundamentals of software engineering like data structures & algorithms without first studying the concepts directly. Hey I'm totally fine if people don't like what they're reading though. It gives me a competitive edge for any company I work for if everyone else is against the idea. ;)
  - anamax 15y ago
    > Statistical analysts aren't f-ing around when it comes to analyzing data and are capable of some extremely magical things What makes you so sure that "Biz Intelligence" folks aren't doing that?
  - kevinalexbrown 15y ago
    Because it's frankly the same thing, you're just defining one name for the people who do it well, and one name for the people who don't. I work with extremely large data sets. Yay. I can call myself a Data Scientist to be in vogue and gain "competitive edge" with people who care about the name I call myself instead of what I'm capable of. I can emphasize that I didn't just "pick up" things randomly, but that I got an abstract mathematics degree. But I'd prefer to be known by what I can do, not my particular label. "No, no I'm not a programmer, I'm an engineer, which gives me a competitive advantage!" -- Whatever, how well can you code?
    - spaznode 15y ago

27 points by abhishektwr 15y ago

"The best X's are curious and entrepreneurial." a) well okay, sure, for large swaths of X b) ...and so are the worst X's. And when X is "data science" we should be interested in telling those stories too The leaked HBGary emails provide a pretty clear example of entrepreneurship destroying one particular curious mind's capacity for doing hard science. Money isn't evil, but it's a filter on perspective that in many, many people turns their capacity for skeptical research to absolute shit.

spaznode 15y ago
Since I work daily with a group of these "data scientists", I can only assume your comment indicates that you have no idea what you're talking about.
- pessimizer 15y ago
  That's not an argument, just a weird insult.
  - spaznode 15y ago
    You're right, it was an insult. It is nonetheless still true.
partition 15y ago
Can I get some background on what the leaked HBGary emails are, I'm curious.
omlette 15y ago
i think youre confusing entrepreneurial with lack of integrity and mental discipline.

kevinalexbrown 15y ago

Defining Data Science as "exploration and invention" and Business Intelligence as "the same old reporting on the top of big data" is just silly. You can't just say "Data Science is inventive, innovative, and great Statistics" but "Business Intelligence" is old, crotchety, bad Statistics. That just seems pedantic to me.

spaznode 15y ago
The thing is that you really ~can~ just say that. Statistical analysts aren't f-ing around when it comes to analyzing data and are capable of some extremely magical things that you can't just "pick up" randomly simply by working on data a lot. Just like you can't randomly understand the fundamentals of software engineering like data structures & algorithms without first studying the concepts directly. Hey I'm totally fine if people don't like what they're reading though. It gives me a competitive edge for any company I work for if everyone else is against the idea. ;)
- anamax 15y ago
  > Statistical analysts aren't f-ing around when it comes to analyzing data and are capable of some extremely magical things What makes you so sure that "Biz Intelligence" folks aren't doing that?
- kevinalexbrown 15y ago
  Because it's frankly the same thing, you're just defining one name for the people who do it well, and one name for the people who don't. I work with extremely large data sets. Yay. I can call myself a Data Scientist to be in vogue and gain "competitive edge" with people who care about the name I call myself instead of what I'm capable of. I can emphasize that I didn't just "pick up" things randomly, but that I got an abstract mathematics degree. But I'd prefer to be known by what I can do, not my particular label. "No, no I'm not a programmer, I'm an engineer, which gives me a competitive advantage!" -- Whatever, how well can you code?
  - spaznode 15y ago