I'm surprised that they didn't mention Leo Breiman's famous paper "Statistical Modelling: The Two Cultures"[0]. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the t

I'm surprised that they didn't mention Leo Breiman's famous paper "Statistical Modelling: The Two Cultures"[0]. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the topic. I could sum it up, but the abstract does a better job: ---------- Abstract. There are two cultures in the use of statistical modeling to reach conclusions from data. One assumes that the data are generated by a given stochastic data model. The other uses algorithmic models and treats the data mechanism as unknown. The statistical community has been committed to the almost exclusive use of data models. This commitment has led to irrelevant theory, questionable conclusions, and has kept statisticians from working on a large range of interesting current prob- lems. Algorithmic modeling, both in theory and practice, has developed rapidlyin fields outside statistics. It can be used both on large complex data sets and as a more accurate and informative alternative to data modeling on smaller data sets. If our goal as a field is to use data to solve problems, then we need to move awayfrom exclusive dependence on data models and adopt a more diverse set of tools. [0].http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~aaronc/courses/5352/readings/Breiman_01_StatisticalModeling_TheTwoCultures.pdf http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~aaronc/courses/5352/readings/Brei...