Numbers provide no narrative, and meaning requires narration rather than quantification.
Evidence
Dataism is nihilism. It gives up on any and all meaning. Data and numbers are not narrative; they are additive. Meaning, on the other hand, is based on narration. Data simply fills up the senseless void. — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 133
Categorization
- DEFINE: Distinguishes additive data from narrative-based meaning — a foundational conceptual contrast.
- XREF: Parallels the critique of quantification of knowledge; resonates with the counting vs recounting distinction later in this same chapter and with general debates on data-driven social science. — connects to: Getting historical facts right is necessary but insufficient without interpretation. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America…, 268
Related
- Additive data without narrative structure produces meaninglessness akin to Dadaism (similarity 0.82)
- Getting historical facts right is necessary but insufficient without interpretation. (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- Getting historical facts right is necessary but insufficient without interpretation.
#expands(0.75) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 268