Hi ,
In 1936, Alan Turing devised the "Turing Machine", a hypothetical device capable of simulating any computer algorithm, without
having seen a computer.
In 1960, Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila won the Olympic marathon without wearing shoes.
In 2016, Bolivian teenager Esteban Quispe made news for his ability to support his family by building robots from e-waste he salvaged from a local rubbish dump.
Given the alternative, I'm sure none of these people would have chosen to do what they did without the proper tools or equipment.
Yet, despite their circumstance, all three were still able to achieve remarkable results.
Here's the thing...
Tools are great. They allow people to leverage their existing abilities and achieve more than they could alone. But tools cannot guarantee results.
A computer on its own could not have devised the "Turing Machine".
Shoes on their own cannot win a marathon.
New electronic materials on their own cannot form themselves into a robot.
In data science, there are hundreds of tools that market themselves as the "magic bullet" that will solve whatever problems you might face - but those tools are only as good as the data scientist behind them.
People love obsessing about tools, because searching for the "magic bullet" to solve a problem is often easier than rolling up your sleeves and putting in the hard work.
But at the end of the day, there are no
"magic bullets".
Tools are just a means to an end. The most important thing is the results you produce, not how you got there.
Talk again soon,
Dr Genevieve Hayes.
