I think of 'data science' as a flag that was planted at the intersection of several different disciplines that have not always existed in the same place. Statistics, computer science, domain expertise, and what I usually call 'hacking,' though I don't mean the 'evil' kind of hacking.

Hilary Mason

Categorized in : Think Place Science Evil

Teaching someone to program is like giving them a superpower.

Hilary Mason

program teaching giving

My attention is the most valuable resource I have. I can protect it with an information diet.

Hilary Mason

resources information attention

I believe technology should give us superpowers. Everyone should have the opportunity to learn to think, analyze, and create with technology.

Hilary Mason

technology opportunity believe

Size doesn't matter, fast data is better than big data

Hilary Mason

size data matter

Deep learning allows you to create predictive models at a level of quality and sophistication that was previously out of reach. And so deep learning also enhances the product function of data science because it can generate new product opportunities.

Hilary Mason

you quality learning science

Everyone likes taking their own photos and seeing themselves reflected back.

Hilary Mason

everyone own back seeing

You really need to have a lot of empathy for the work you're doing and the people who you're ultimately trying to help, whether that's a business colleague, a boss, or, ultimately, the user of the software you're building.

Hilary Mason

you business work people

In some ways, chocolate chip cookie recipes are my favorite algorithms. You put a bunch of bad-for-you stuff in a bowl and get a delicious result.

Hilary Mason

result some you chocolate

It's easy to find people who can make pretty pictures, and it's easy to find people who can do math. But it's difficult to find people who can do both.

Hilary Mason

pictures difficult easy people

It turns out it's important to build a product and not just a bunch of data models.

Hilary Mason

product just data important

I'm a huge fan of the liberal arts approach of teaching you to think, analyze, and communicate, then sending you out into the world to cause trouble.

Hilary Mason

think you trouble world

I think e-mail should be sorted by importance, not by time.

Hilary Mason

i-think think importance time

The sender and subject line are actually the most important parts of an e-mail because people tend to put more important information in the subject.

Hilary Mason

more information important people

In tech entrepreneurship, even a lot of hack events tend to be overly commercial in that they're designed to produce companies.

Hilary Mason

even tech entrepreneurship events

The core advantage of data is that it tells you something about the world that you didn't know before.

Hilary Mason

know you data world

As your competitors learn more, you'll need to learn, too.

Hilary Mason

your need more you

Even smaller companies are putting resources behind their analytics teams in the same way they put resources behind engineering and product teams. There are some great tools out there that allow even tiny businesses to use data effectively.

Hilary Mason

behind great data way

Companies that rely on licensing a proprietary dataset should expect to be outpaced by competitors using modern data collection techniques and more frequent updates and greater accuracy.

Hilary Mason

expect more accuracy data

Data science is the combination of analytics and the development of new algorithms.

Hilary Mason

new data development science

The job of the data scientist is to ask the right questions.

Hilary Mason

right questions job data