Quelques remarques sur la pertinence de la philosophie de Canguilhem sur les enjeux contemporains, de la medecine par la preuve à la disruption des organisations biologiques.
Can big data replace theoretical thinking? How should these technics be used? A critical discussion on the use of big data in biology.
Abstract
Some authors assert that the analysis of huge databases could replace the scientific method. On the contrary, we argue that the best way to make these new technologies bear fruits is to frame them with theories concerning the phenomena of interest. Such theories hint to the observable that should be taken into account and the mathematical structures that may link them. In biology, we argue that the community urgently needs an overarching theory of organisms that would provide a precise framework to understand lifecycles. Among other benefits, such a theory should make explicit what we can and cannot predict in principle.
Keywords: Big Data, biological variation, cancer biology, knowledge, theory
Citation
Montévil, Maël, and G. Longo. 2018. “Big Data and Biological Knowledge.” In Predictability and the Unpredictable. Life, Evolution and Behaviour, edited by Giulia Frezza and David Ceccarelli, 133–44. Roma: CNR Edizioni
Que peuvent apporter les approches Big Data en biologie? Peuvent-elle être traitée de manière agnostique. Peuvent-elle remplacer la réflexion théorique?
Abstract
Certains auteurs affirment que l’analyse des grandes bases de données pourrait remplacer la méthode scientifique. A contrario, nous argumentons que la bonne manière de faire fructifier ces nouveautés techniques est de les encadrer théoriquement. En biologie, en particulier, il nous semble urgent de développer une théorie des organismes.