Duncan Ross

The 0th Law of Data Mining

Preview of The Laws of Data Mining Session at Strata Santa Clara 2013

Many years ago I was taught about the three laws of thermodynamics. When that didn’t stick, I was taught a quick way to remember originally identified by C.P. Snow:

  • 1st Law: you can’t win
  • 2nd Law: you can’t draw
  • 3rd Law: you can’t get out of the game

These laws (well the real ones) were firmly established by the mid 19th century. Yet, it wasn’t until the 1930s that the value of the 0th law was identified.

At Strata I’m going to be talking about the 9 Laws of Data Mining – a set of principles identified by Tom Khabaza and very closely related to the CRISP-DM data mining methodology.

They may possibly, just possibly, not be as important as the laws of thermodynamics, but at Strata they will be supported by an equally important 0th Law.

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