Informal Writing Assignment 1

Question: Human development has been described by Selim Jahan (head of the UNDP program) as “development of the people (capital), for the people (translated to the lives of people) and by the people (people are not only receiving but active participant in the process).” How have we done as a humanity to fulfill this hope originally manifested through the Gettysburg address? Does data science have a role to play in advancing the human condition? What role does complexity play in advancing our understanding of global human development processes and their multitude of dimensions? In order predict valuable solutions to some of the worlds most intractable problems, will combined domain expertise from the perspective of computer science & statistics with global human development be sufficient, or is a new integrated paradigm needed? What hope do we have in selecting the best future path for humanity?

Response: Making people the focal point of human development requires that we focus on democratic principles and individual rights because it’s these ideas and the principles surrounding them that put the human beings at the center. Amartya Sen captures these ideas perfectly book discussing development as freedom. In it, he explains how development is seen as the process of expanding real freedoms for people to enjoy, including economic freedom (ability to exchange goods in the market), social freedom (ability to pursue education and health care), and political freedom (broad political participation). Furthermore, he goes on to explain that when an institution deprives them of these basic, God-given freedoms, people no longer can make basic yet influential choices that will help them meet the sole end of individual human development- a satisfactory and enjoyable life. When one incorporates this freedom-based definition of development to the real world, apart from a few exceptions, it is easy to see how many countries have failed to meet this standard. Take for example the communist and arguably tyrannical regime of Kim jun-un of north Korea. Though North Korea might have a sophisticated and well-developed economy, there is little sign of human development. This is mainly because the government has usurped its power and taken control of every aspect of human life (i.e.. control technology use), depriving people of their basic rights and subsequently preventing them from living happy lives. Other political regimes under tyranny and corrupt governmental elites such as those China, and Iran also demonstrate similar behavior. On the other hand, there are some countries that are flourishing in human development, most of which are under a democratic form of government. The reason countries like the U.S and others are thriving in human development under a democratic form of government is because the leaders are elected by the general public to satisfy the needs of the people (promoting human development) and not to usurp power for selfish gain like those in tyrannical states do. This juxtaposes with Sen’s view of political freedom, which claims that political freedom is a stepping stone to overall freedom because the people can use their political freedom to vote into power those who will help promote the well-being of the people.

Moving on, I believe that data science can be used to promote human development because data scientists can use contextualized data-collection methods to understand the needs of a people in an impoverished area, without generalizing the data as whole. For example, as Blumenstock mentions, companies today are using satellite imaging to understand the affluent of a given area in order gain a better understanding how to meet the needs of the people there. As far as complexity goes in human development, it important for data scientists to understand that there is not a one-size fit all solution to improve human development. Rather human development must be understood as a form of development that is interconnected with economic, social, political, and other forms development. In other words, as Sen explains it, freedom is not only the object of development but also the means by which development occurs. For example, when a government promotes social freedom through increasing education and healthcare opportunities, human capability increases. Being better off, people have a greater opportunity to make choices that promote their overall freedom and happiness, thereby promoting human development. Looking ahead in the future as far as human development goes, if companies want to truly maximize human development and gain a deeper understanding of the audiences in question, they can’t remain passive and simply rely on technology to do the job. Rather, they ought to make their data-collection methods more meaningful by sending actual workers to the areas in question. This way, companies will have first-hand experiences of their audiences and ultimately gain a deeper understanding of the problem these impoverished areas face as they immerse themselves in society and get to know the local people. As data scientist and companies do this, they will be able to retrieve data that would not be otherwise retrievable using numerical and technological methods and use it to make true, impactful change.