Data provide a reduced representation of the world and promise to uncover hidden patterns and connections between entities that remain invisible in their full, unreduced manifestation in the world. This allows people and organizations to make sense of the world, and increase their level of control. But data do not only allow people and organizations to see the world, they also allow them to shape the future. Building mathematical models of the world, provides new ways to form expectations about relevant future developments as well as effects of specific actions and interventions. Having access to better models about the world allows people and organizations to position themselves with greater foresight in the world regarding future developments and effects of their actions. This allows them to outperform the competition and shape the future according to their interests.

Script: http://digitalmedia.andreasjungherr.de/data.html#observing-the-world-through-data