A musing on reductionism, the type of thinking at the root of datafication, after an exchange with a friend on the topic.
He, rightfully I believe, mentioned that there is a place for reductionist thinking, it is useful and even essential for many tasks. The problem starts when we think of it as the path to truth.
I agree.
My issue with reductionism is not that it is useless or “bad” (for lack of a better word) in and of itself, but that, in the datafied society of the early 21st century where algorithms have taken over decision-making in many areas of life, it has become (or is fast becoming) the only valid source of knowledge. What can’t be reduced to computer data is for the most part abandoned. In other words, be subjugated or be forgotten.
As a society, we bask in the warmth of the belief about the innate progress inherent to the digital revolution, and we self congratulate for having left a boring 20th century behind. But the type of thinking underscoring the digital “revolution” comes straight from the 19th century, so where is the revolution? It is the pinnacle of the logico-linear engineer type of thinking. I have nothing against engineers, they have an important place and role to play in our societies, but when this type of thinking colonises all areas of life and all dimensions of humaneness, and suppresses other ways of seeing and being in the world, I say Houston, we have a problem.
Neil Postman (one of my favourite authors in the field of media studies, in many ways a visionary) touches upon this idea in his book “Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology”, a must-read! In a technopoly, the ideology underlying the technological tools becomes self-justifying and it is the technology that provides guidance to society instead of the other way round.
“Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology is a book by Neil Postman published in 1992 that describes the development and characteristics of a “technopoly”. He defines a technopoly as a society in which technology is deified, meaning “the culture seeks its authorisation in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology”. It is characterised by a surplus of information generated by technology, which technological tools are in turn employed to cope with, in order to provide direction and purpose for society and individuals.” [Wikipedia]