What Is Data, Really?*

What Is Data, Really? By Vyoma Youth Society “Can numbers represent truth?” Before moving forward, let us pause and ask: What is data, really? And more importantly, Why has the world started saying that data is the new power ? Before reading further, try this simple exercise: Write down on a piece of paper what you understand by the word data . At the end of this post, look again at what you wrote and compare it with what you understand now. Data as Representation Data is not reality. It can never be reality. We cannot directly compare data with reality, because data is only a measurement of reality . This may sound confusing at first, so let us observe something simple around us. Consider your phone charging. Your phone is part of reality. When you look at your phone and note its battery percentage — 20%, 40%, 75% — you are creating data about your phone. Notice something important: You did not capture the phone itself. You captured a numerical description of one aspect of the phone.