In this week’s reading A Vast machine by Paul N. Edwards reflects on this week’s topic of Culture and data, specifically Data friction and infrastructural globalism. The author discusses about how data is collected and used, he uses the metaphor of the machine to describe the world we live in today, held together as it is by the gears and nuts and bolts of a continuous information flow. An example I can think of is the lifestyle of a university student. Due to the nature of compiling multiple sources of data, ‘aggregating’ all forms of data in order to present a respectable argument or to effectively draw links and conclusions based on research. The learning process in university is one of aggregation, we digest information derived from out lecturers, powerpoint slides and readings. This can further be compared to the ‘distribution,’ this may take in the form of posting your work on a blog, discussion to writing an exam paper. As university students we engage in a constant process of distributing the aggregated data via publishing platforms or through physical means having made our own mark on it through the process of creative additions. It can be argued that this process deters creativity as we merely research what already exists and basically regurgitate it in a different format however I believe it is a shift away from a reactive culture towards more of a proactive one. I believe this is the case because through continuous research on a particular subject are we then able possibly discover new things from past discoveries or it may bring about new theories and discussion. Edwards (2010) explains Data friction is a process of collecting data over a certain time period and the gathering it and coming to a conclusion from a large data set over time. The reading elaborates on the topic of climate change, and shows that the data on climate change that has been collected over time to produce the evidence that climate change is posed as a serious issue. This can be related back to the topic of dangers of smoking, with increasing concerns and as a result more research conducted it adversely affected the perception of smoking from being a non lethal recreation to one that can be dangerous to one’s health.
Reference
Edwards, Paul N. (2010) ‘Introduction’ in A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data and the Politics of Global Warming Cambridge, MA: MIT Press: xiii-xvii.
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