The Scientific Method is a very simple, beautiful thing. The idea behind it is that an idea can be generally shown to be probably true or false based on observation. We all know this now, but it was a revolutionary idea at the time (as are, I suspect, most examples of truly elegant thinking). The problem with the scientific method is that it becomes more and more difficult to accurately apply as you try to apply it to more and more complex systems. The more potential factors you have, the more difficult it is to pin down causation. This is especially daunting when you try to analyze human behavior: even very general trends are difficult to truly analyze with any accuracy. It becomes an even more complex problem when you consider that we cannot truly experiment on humans in an ethical way; not without affecting the outcome by our own methods (informed consent alone hopelessly taints most results). Certainly, hamhanded efforts at psychological and sociological experimentation have been made, and the results have been nothing to scoff at. However, I propose that we can open up an entirely new level of result if we can simply get enough raw data.
This data exists. It is indexed, searchable, and, to a limited extent, it is accessible to all of us. The single greatest collection of data on human behavior is being collected as we speak on a scale that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. For all the semi-cheeky talk of Google's omniscience, Google is not only the greatest source of information the world has ever seen, it is also the greatest data set on how we as humans access and interact with that information. In my interactions with Google, in my efforts to enhance how I personally gain access to the information to which Google is portal, I have learned much about the workings of not only my own mind, but of the minds of others. I propose that Google's search data alone can be one of the greatest strides forward in the history of human study of humans. The answers to some of the most difficult questions of epistemology lie in the cloud. All that remains is that we access and analyze it in the right way.
Thus, it is a part of the mission of Elegant Doom to take what we can get of this information and try to glean Knowledge and Truth from it. I invite you to join us, to send us your ideas, to begin your own research. Share what you've learned. Challenge us. Let's crack this thing called Humanity.
For more, check out The Philosophy of Search.
