dataism

Dataism is a term used to describe a broad movement or worldview that treats data and data flows as foundational to knowledge, value, and social organization. Proponents argue that patterns in large datasets reveal truths about the world, enable prediction, and guide policy and science more reliably than traditional approaches. Critics see dataism as an umbrella for diverse ideas about information, technology, and power.

The term was popularized in contemporary discourse by historian Yuval Noah Harari, who describes dataism as the belief that information processing and vast networks of data are becoming the defining source of value and power, with life and society reducible to data flows. Other writers associate it with the broader rise of big data, algorithmic governance, and the digitization of knowledge.

Core tenets often include: data as a primary resource for knowledge and decision-making; the view that almost any phenomenon can be described as information; trust in automated analysis and predictive models; and the idea that data infrastructures shape social and political life.

Implications and criticisms: proponents point to advances in science, medicine, and optimization. Critics warn of privacy erosion, surveillance, algorithmic bias, opaque decision-making, and the risk of concentrating power among data holders and platform monopolies; they also argue that value and meaning cannot be captured fully by data alone.

The phrase is used across philosophy of information, science and technology studies, and critiques of AI governance. It is not a single doctrine but a spectrum of views about the role of data in modern life.