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Why must every data scientist be a Platonist

History and Overview 2023-03-22 v1 Logic in Computer Science Logic Other Statistics

Abstract

Data scientists are not mathematicians, but they make heavy use of mathematics in their daily work. While mathematicians can study a mathematical object which is inaccessible to our five senses, data scientists must deal with real-world data which are observable to us. This fine line suggests that a data scientist's philosophical position on mathematics might have a nontrivial impact on their work. By examining how different philosophical views of mathematics affect the interpretation of the basic model assumption in data science, we arrive at the conclusion that a data scientist, who uses modern probabilistic and statistical tools, must be a Platonist.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2303.11830,
  title  = {Why must every data scientist be a Platonist},
  author = {Collin Joseph Van Cuyk and Liang Hong},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.11830},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T09:26:16.059Z