Solving Humanity With Data Science

Part 01 – The beginning

In the book, A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin says “Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well”. The quote has an impending truth to it, almost as if he is warning us of a dark end to humanity itself. Since the beginning of time, man has faced adversity in myriad forms, from the whimsical destructions of nature to the test of time itself. The most potent enemy that man has had, however, is himself. Civilization has helped us grow out of the wild hunters that we were, into a species who are capable of designing complex systems like money, transportation, politics and even send ourselves to outer space. We as a species have explored and exploited our world, created cities with remarkable architectures and invented concepts overtime that would have baffled our ancestors. Why is George R.R. Martin then, warning us of an imminent and dark danger? Why can’t we, humans, who are capable of anything, create a perfect world to live in, a utopia? The truth is, we can’t, because we’re a troubled species and a very profane enemy lurks in our system; as the proverb “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” elegantly summarizes.

The society that we’ve evolved into today has some serious social flaws, including Gender bias, Poverty, Crime, Resource scarcity and I could go on. On December 16, 2012, a heinous act by a few individuals in abusing and causing a girl’s death saw a nation protest in unison. These crimes are the weak links that scar our society, tumours that terrify the innocent, and incidents that make humanity very far away from creating a perfect world. Barely two years since, on July 02, 2014, a six year old child was abused in a school, an innocent childhood that probably ended too soon. Society is ridden with such problems, problems that bring us down every time we showcase our achievements, problems that ridicule our very being. These problems though, aren’t new, they have a very human element to them – Anger, Greed, Lust, and the like. In some sense, religion has an answer to these weaknesses of mankind. At Gramener, Science is our religion, and we introspect today, if one of our greatest achievements (Science) can create a perfect world.

Science is a methodical system, it’s a study of nature’s behaviour and can be quantified by numbers. Science helps us create models with the help of numbers and equations to represent and answer some of the most complex questions that we have ever faced in our history. We have to use this, our greatest strength, to try and solve the issues that are inhibiting us from evolving into a higher, and more civilized species. The numbers that I talk about, the numbers which can quantify situations and systems, is nothing but data. There is data, hidden everywhere, in our world today. Data about people, data about weather, data about transactions, data about what people are thinking on online media, data everywhere. This burst of data has been a natural evolution of the Internet, one of mankind’s greatest achievements. Can these numbers that are everywhere, help us look at a story that is hidden from the naked eye? Can these numbers help us identify patterns of human failures? Can we scientifically provide a solution that can solve humanity?