Bigger Isn't Always Better

Acording to a 2014 report from the White House, “Big data will become an historic driver of progress, helping our nation perpetuate the civic and economic dynamism that has long been its hallmark.” The analytical power of big data, according to the Obama administration and many others, should be balanced against privacy, equity, and autonomy. But who is talking about the limitations of big data? That’s the question International Security Program Fellow Konstantin Kakaes in the fifth in New America's Big Ideas series on CNN. Kakaes highlights how bad use of data can be worse than no data at all and argues that our presumption that quantitative techniques objectively assess what works and what doesn’t is, in his words, “deeply flawed.” Data is far from an objective measure, according to Kakaes, and what’s more, can never replace the informed (and subjective) judgment we must use to make meaningful decisions.