The epistemic impact of data processing

Giorgio Buccellati – January 2026

Control

The major epistemic effect of using a database is the sense of control it generates. Data are found at a moment’s notice, leaving no room for uncertainty or doubt. Since we can

The atrophy effect

The assumption is that the results are true and exclusive, meaning that no other reults is possible.

Accessing the already known

No sense of the whole

perception

Critical judgement

nurturing the conviction that that is a definitive answer, with two fundamental corollaries.

true
no alternative