10 Things That Data Science Taught Me
So far, this list is the main things that Data Science taught me and the things that I should share with you guys, whether you are a beginner or a pro programmer.
1. To Be Curious
Curiosity is the engine of achievement — Ken Robinson
What are you curious about? What’s the problem you want to solve? Data Science can help with that.
If you are a curious person, a person who wants to understand everything, a person who wants to understand the world you’re in… Data Science will be the ultimate thing for you! There are a bunch of site like kaggle, ourworldindata, data.world that contains data about (almost) everything you can imagine.
If you are a curious person, give Data Science a chance! You will not regret it!
And Data Science taught me…
2. That I am an Eternal Student
Once you stop learning, you start dying — Albert Einstein
New update, new language, new library, new framework…
If you are a curious person and you are the type of person who are always watching, reading and/or doing something new. Not only data science but programming as a whole will give a life of endless learning.
There will always be new challenges, like I said before, a minor update in a certain library can crash your code, and you will have to learn it again or maybe learn something new to solve the same problem.
And Data Science taught me…
3. That I Know Nothing
The More You Know The More You Realize You Don’t Know! — Socrates
In my completion of course work, my coordinator quote this phrase for me, I will never forget it.
Everytime I’m writing a code, I realize myself that I don’t know something about coding or a specific library/framework. Everytime I have to check the documentation or check for examples from other people on stackoverflow.
The more you learn from, I don’t know… SKlearn, the more you’ll have to check the documentation, because you have to check something. It’ll always be the same for every library, for every course, for every knowledge, in any sector.
Be humble, check the documentation, no one can know everything, not even know everything about something that is constantly changing.
And Data Science taught me…
4. That There Is No Pre-Settled Pathway
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step — Chinese Proverb
Guys, now I wanna talk by myself. When I started learning Python I ALWAYS WANTED this “pre-settled pathway”, just follow these steps and done. There are multiple pathways, different steps, some of them will converge with other people, but most of them, will not.
So, set your goal, gather all the information you need and start studing, do not waste your time trying to set the perfect path from the very beginning, they will change, everything changes… remember “You Know Nothing!”
Just start and pave your way to your goal according to your objectives.
And Data Science taught me…
5. To Break Any Problem Into Smaller Parts
If you’re overwhelmed by the size of a problem, break it down into smaller pieces — Chuck Close
That’s the most valuable lesson so far.
A plane wasn’t made all at once, their creators first made the engine, then the aerodynimics, then the controls…
Your code will start simple, and each section will start to execute a simple task. In Data Science, there are a lot of variables in a dataset, do not try to understand all at once.
Break it into smaller parts, understand its correlation to other variables. And it will be a lot of easier to understand the data but also align it with your goal.
And Data Science taught me…
6. About Planning
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to failure — Benjamin Franklin
To break a problem into smaller parts, its necessary planning.
A big problem demands a big planning. Use flow charts, lists, check boxes, whatever you can use to plan and set the steps to be followed.
And Data Science taught me…
7. That The World is in Numbers
“The world cannot be understood without numbers. But the world cannot be understood with numbers alone.” — Hans Rosling
We sense the world by hearing, smelling, touching, seeing and tasting. That’s the human “input of data”.
The computer doesn’t have those senses, computers only understand 0 and 1. So a Data Scientist needs to see the world in numbers. How can I “sense” (or get data) from the world around me?
We sense the world in numbers and write a code to make the numbers makes sense to the rest of the world.
And Data Science taught me…
8. About Organization
Getting organized is a sign of self-respect — Gabrielle Bernstein
Break a problem into smaller parts, plan your steps… they could be together with Organization. But organization itself is a world that should be remembered.
Organize everything that was in your plan, when it will be required? How much of this tool will be required? Is that the right tool? Am I using it correctly? Don’t wasting your time looking for tools after you start a project or you will fall into a black hole.
And Data Science taught me…
9. About Teamwork, Sharing and Teaching
Knowledge increases by sharing, but not by saving — Kamari
The programmers knows about it! Who would be us without stackoverflow?
Everything you learn, yes… everything, share it, no matter how basic it is, share it! When you share, you are teaching, and when you are teaching you are learning by the best method of learning: teaching!
Big problems would take a life to solve alone, but with a team, any problem can be solved. Break it, plan it, organize it… and do not forget to share your knowledge with your team. What makes you irreplaceable is your ability to make your team better everyday, is not your knowledge.
And Data Science taught me…
10. That We Can Help To Change The World
Science as a Candle in the Dark — Carl Sagan — The Demon-Haunted World
Poverty, Climate Change, Violence… These are the 3 of humankind problems. And for every humankind problem there are data about them.
Does the violence bother you? What about analyse the data of violence in your town? And what about homeless people? Is there anyone of them in your city? Could you do something to improve their lifes with your knowledge? Of course you can!
Choose a problem, dive in the data, propose a solution, make your city better, make your country better, make the world a better place, start small, go big!
And Data Science has taught me all those power and useful lessons that I hope, that you, the reader, can extract some value from those lessons, whether it’s for motivation, for learning or just for fun!
Thank-you!
