Chaomancy - Blog

Hello everyone.

I am starting this blog to share stories, thoughts and bits of knowledge with the wider IT and data science community.

I was actually quite chuffed when the word “data science” came out. For it captures the reality of a life at the crossroad of data analysis, data processing, data management, process engineering, software development and elbow greasing, which had been my life for years and had always been a bit awkward to explain!

So now I have a word for the side of myself that will write here... the “data scientist”. And I can now candidly express my wonder at the set of devices that data science provides to interpret the world, reduce the immense, give form to the formless, make sense of chaos, and empower and free ourselves – no less. There is science and technology there of course, but also tremendous creativity, passion and energy.

And so this blog I named Chaomancy, for the word captures what I find beautiful and exciting in data science today.

Ok, my sense of wonder fades when data science and its branches – search, profiling, recognition, intelligence – gives in to our controlling nature or our petty instincts, with little consideration for ethics and human side-effects.

But let me remain in my marvel zone for now, which I would define as:

providing individuals with tools to understand and influence their material, social and cultural environment
helping people to find similar others, supportive others, a better place or generally a better environment for themselves - things I think about under my Belove hat
formulating cultural policies and projects that help individuals thrive against or with: their family, their minority group, their locally dominant group, the wider world
helping entrepreneurs succeed in a mathematically chaotic business world - I would also love the Belove brand to be about this someday.

Whether I will work on all these subjects remains to be seen. For now, let me simply hope that you enjoy this blog and that you find useful stuff here.

All the best,

Nico