[Sigia-l] RE: Data vs. Information

[Listera]

"Booher, Craig" wrote:

> How about a spreadsheet of numbers?  Remove the labels above the columns and
> next to the rows and you have raw data.

'Raw'? What does that mean? These numbers are not random; they are stacked
vertically and horizontally in a grid. Even without labels, you have already
provided a container structure to them and a coordinate system of relations.
We could go hairsplitting into academic refinement: no they are not numbers,
they are ones and zeros, particles in a magnet, pits on polymers, etc. Or
esoteric: there are savants who can see patterns in what to everybody else
appears to be utterly meaningless, random numbers, letters, symbols or
shapes. And so on.

I'll leave it up to you to decide if any of this is really needed or useful
for IA work. IAs hardly ever deal with what you are attempting to define as
'raw' data.

Best,

Ziya