From Peter Bauer
Jeremy Howard of Kaggle, a website that hosts problem-solving competitions, champions data science over experts for solving predictive problems in many disciplines (1 December 2012, p 28). This struck a chord, as I have found that expert knowledge can get in the way when trying to solve cutting-edge problems.
But before we decide to shoot the experts, let’s take a broader look. It’s only human to value our hard-won knowledge, and most of it will turn out to be correct.
We do need curious and creative people unconstrained by existing ideas to advance any field, but we also need knowledgeable people to guide their efforts so we don’t keep reinventing the wheel.
Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, US
