dataism

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noun

The belief that all knowledge consists of data and that scientific theories should only be the simplest systematizations of that data.

Scrabble 10

Meanings

dataism1

noundataism (uncountable)

alternative Dataism

  1. uncountableThe belief that all knowledge consists of data and that scientific theories should only be the simplest systematizations of that data.

    Dataism is becoming 'a belief in a new gold standard of knowledge about human behavior', van Dijck writes, and argues that it is crucial to be aware of the different reasons for and contexts within which data is gathered. We also need to realise that data is interpreted by analysts.

    2014, Jill W. Rettberg, Seeing Ourselves Through Technology, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    Dataism and dadaism are the hard core of strict empiricism, a philosophy incongruously held by many theoreticians and underlying much research planning. It encourages the blind accumulation of superficial information that leads nowhere because it comes from nowhere and takes place in a vacuum of ideas.

    1998, Mario Bunge -, Philosophy of Science: From Explanation to Justification, →ISBN, page 211

    Thus a newly formed somatechnics of the sensored body is beginning to emerge, in which everyday activities modulate in accordance with the modulations of the control society, and in which the body is produced within a security-based governmentality epitomised in the ideology of dataism.

    2016, Holly Randell-Moon, Ryan Tippet, Security, Race, Biopower: Essays on Technology and Corporeality, →ISBN

Dataism2

nounDataism (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of dataism.

    The dichotomy between Dataism and Interpretationism in China is quite reminiscent of this German scene.

    1981, Centre for Translation Projects, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Renditions - Issues 15-18, page 17
    2 more examples

    In place of the founding tenets of modernity – liberalism, democracy and personal autonomy – there is a new religion: Dataism. Its followers – many of whom reside in the Bay Area of California – put their faith in information by encouraging us to see it as the only true source of value.

    2016 August 24, David Runciman, “Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari review – how data will destroy human freedom”, in The Guardian

    Powered by understanding our own drivers, we will begin to pray at the alter of Dataism: humanity's new religion.

    2017 June 26, Jessica Sier, “Homo Deus: Praying at the alter of Dataism in a future I don't want to reach”, in The Australian Financial Review
  2. uncountableartA movement that emphasizes traditional aesthetics and formal practices.

    Arts Westchester's Dataism exhibition is scheduled to open in the fall of 2019 in its downtown White Plains gallery.

    2018 March 12, Aleesia Forni, “ArtsWestchester receives $30000 from National Endowment for the Arts”, in Westfair
    2 more examples

    He regards it above all as 'Dataism' - a term and an art opposed to the iconoclasm of Modernism in general and Dadaism in particular. Dataism restates traditional aesthetics through formal practices.

    1993, Frank Popper, Art of the electronic age, page 87

    One of the Cyberart aspects is the "Dataism" This art is opposed to the iconoclast features of Dadai"sm. By his formal practices, the Dataism reaffirms the traditional aesthetic.

    1999, Jean-Claude Heudin, Virtual Worlds: Synthetic Universes, Digital Life, and Complexity

Origin

Rhymes & wordplay

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Cite this entry
APA

dataism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dataism

MLA

“dataism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dataism. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dataism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dataism.

Source: dataism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.