“Is the availability of more data always helpful in the production of knowledge?

I concur with the statement that more available data will always be helpful in the production of
knowledge. This will be explained in the following three aspects, what is the role of data in the
production of knowledge, to what extent is our understanding and knowledge dependent on data
and does too much data always result in information overload. In this essay, I have chosen two areas
of knowledge (AOK), natural science and the arts to be discussed, the main focus are biology and
visual arts. On top of all, regarding to the word “data”, it can be presented in many forms. It can be
numerical figures, graphs or charts that require us to analyse then absorb its meaning, to learn and
turn it into knowledge. It can also be written information in which we read and think, after
understanding its connotation, it is then, again, turned into knowledge. According to the Cambridge
Dictionary, data is collected to be examined, considered and used to help decision-making. Data is
facts and unprocessed statistics used for references or analysis, it is efficient for processing. While
knowledge is the results from the process of learning and analysing the data. Through education or
experiences by perceiving and discovering, you acquire new information and develop new skills,
this is known as the production of knowledge. Knowledge can be academic, scientific, cultural or
social.

The role of data in the production of knowledge is to provide you a means to understand a
particular topic or subject. As Edison said, “the value of an idea lies in the using of it” (Thomas A.
Edison, American Inventor). Through processing the data, useful information can be assimilated.
After consolidating the information obtained, it can be then be turned into knowledge. This is the
process of generating knowledge. The role of data is essential as it allows you to turn what one
knows into knowledge, into something of your own. The availability of more data is also helpful in
formulating plans, in decision-making and proving theories. Data is instrumental in terms of
learning. Case on point, in the area of natural science, biology requires students to perform
experiments. Data is recorded and presented in laboratory reports. Graphs in various forms are
produced from the data collected, some patterns or trends can be then concluded. At this point, data
is turned into practical knowledge and evidence to support the theories claimed. For instance, from
experimenting whether enzymatic rates can be increased by adding more substrate concentration or
increasing the temperature of the solution, data can be collected and results can be concluded. Valid
evidence are provided and used to support the theories. Knowledge is a combination of practices
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and theories. If data is absent, you will have to guess the contents of that subject or topic. It will be
an invalid attempt to study or learn about that subject when there is no data. There will be so little to
help you with during the learning process, in which only the basic theory-based information can be
learnt. As Charles Babbage once said, “errors using inadequate data are much less than those using
no data at all” (Charles Babbage, English Mathematician). Data can be used to strengthen the
theories. Without it, these theories would have no valid evidence to be supported. Their accuracy
would be questioned. For example, in the beginning of the study of fossils, everyone lacked
information about dinosaurs, scientists had to make assumptions and conjecture which the results
are not precise. In 1878, an Iguanodon’s horn-like finger was originally thought to set into the
dinosaur’s nose. In 1979, the head of an Apatosaur was misplaced by another dinosaur’s. On the
other hand, data also points out the errors, such as standard deviation, which is vital in plotting
graphs for laboratory report. The production of knowledge is more efficacious with the presence of
data.

Our understanding and knowledge depend on data extensively. We have a high reliance on data as
it is crucial for us to generate knowledge. In the area of Palaeontology, it includes a study of fossil
in which it determines organisms’ evolution, the organisms’ interactions with each other and their
habitats. For this case, let dinosaurs be the subjects. Scientists claimed that there were different
phases such as the Triassic period or the Jurassic period, with various types of dinosaurs living back
then. Scientists had each of their characteristics explained, they also said that dinosaurs died out 65
millions of years ago, killed by enormous meteorites. How could the palaeontologists know all
about that? The scientists deduced all that information from data obtained from the dinosaurs’
fossils discovered. Based on the geographical features around the spots of fossils’ discoveries and
the detail analysis on the bones, with the help of a bit of interpretation, the scientists gain their
understandings about the ancient creatures from these fossils. With more fossils being discovered,
the data gained accumulates. Judging from the common features among the fossils, such as the
bones’ structures or shapes of teeth, scientists would be able to classify them into different groups -
herbivores or carnivores, knowledge is produced. From the female dinosaurs’ fossils being found
next to some eggs’ fossils, scientists interpret and understand this as the dinosaurs live together in
groups. From new discovery of feathered dinosaurs’ fossils, new data generates new understanding.
With more fossils found out, scientists are able to develop and produce more knowledge. Fossils are
the only data about dinosaurs that humans possess, all of our present knowledge rely on these rare
and valuable fossils. Hence, to a large extent is our understanding and knowledge dependent on
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data. If no fossils were dig out, no one would be even aware of the existence of dinosaurs.
Supposing our understanding and knowledge depend only a little on data. Our knowledge would not
be absolutely justified. It would only be a belief and could not be proved as facts when there is no
proof. It would be our own wishful thinking only. Additionally, if the data is insufficient and
unclear, the conclusion becomes in-completed. Therefore, the full extent of our understanding,
knowledge and learning will not be available.

Too much data does not always result in information overload, provided that it is relevant.
Information overload refers to a person not able to learn any further in a short period of time. In
biology, if we perform more trials when conducting an experiment, more useful data can be
obtained and the accuracy can be improved significantly. The concluded results are more average
inclined. The availability of more data helps ensuring a more precise and efficient investigation
instead of causing information overload. Data collected also acts us as our past experiences to
supply us with some understandings. In visual arts, it can be thought of a merge of personal
knowledge and shared knowledge, involving artists’ imagination and creativity. Tolstoy once said
“art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced” (Leo Tolstoy,
Russian Novelist). The intentions and emotions of an artist creating an artwork are the essence. I, as
a visual art student, am always in the process of brainstorming for new artwork ideas. Before
working on a new piece of creation, I surely need to fuse my own original ideas with others’
opinions. I often find suggestions from another perspectives truly beneficial. Tolstoy has also once
said "art lifts man from his personal life into the universal life” (Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist).
With much data, others’ views, my knowledge is broadened, resulting in an excellent art piece. On
the other hand, theoretically, too much data always results in information overload. Diamandis said
that “every second of every day, our senses bring in way too much data than we can possibly
process in our brains” (Peter Diamandis, Chairman/CEO, X-Prize Foundation). Since humans have
limited capacity to process a certain amount of data in a time period. The information storage is
finite, the excessive data will become meaningless. Case on point, in a room crowded with people
talking at the same time, you are not able to receive what everyone is saying. You have to filter and
select some to concentrate on. The useless data still needs to be stored in your memory and this will
greatly affect the storage capacity of a human brain, eventually resulting in information overload.
Too much irrelevant data makes analysis harder to interpret. When there is too much data, too much
opinions or even judgments from others, an artist’s creativity might be influenced. The artist might

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be off track from his or her initial idea of artwork, or even become too concerned about how others
feel, leading to information overload.

Even though in some cases, the availability of more data is not helpful in the production of
knowledge, I still believe what the statement mentioned is true as it seems in some situations where
the data present is helpful. Biology is one of the knowing that I could use on explaining. These are
my point of view on this matter.

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