Set on a humid eventide, crested upon the ambient sounds of Nikolai Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” I collated numbers, quantified concentrations, took averages, generated standard deviations, and extrapolated propositions— in more terse terms data analysis. Like most typical orchestral compositions, Korsakov’s is a juxtaposition of euphonic undulations, this deliberate mixture of easing fades and enchanting crescendos is comparable to the work I am doing.
The character of this composition is in the subjectivity of each listener; the narrative we tell ourselves— the fluidity of the strings makes a raconteur out of us all and our imaginations go wild, our eyes starry, and our minds all but ‘lucid’. The kind of lucidity emphatically required for the deductions of scientific propositions. The requirement of objectivity is in spite of myself, my ingenuity must parse not wander like a starry-eyed vagabond; picture an untethered wave slapping against the side of a mountain. The mountain, scientific due process— the method, ethics, and Occam’s razor. The way we switched between units for a more acceptable presentation of data, the way our individualities contended, the way my preference differed from my colleague’s were intrinsic to the data collation process akin to the undulation inhered in Korsakov’s composition. Despite the path, there was a trend in outcome.
The relative objectivity of our findings purported that, well, numbers don’t lie. I reckon this is much like the pervasiveness of the composition, in all our idiosyncrasies we can all agree on the vague feeling of grace, the coordination of the orchestra, and sheer poetry, albeit underrated, of the conductor; so it was with the trend from data analysis, the same.
The composition ends with a smile, the conductor knew he has pleased the audience. There is a subliminal relationship between the conductor and the audience, it is a musical give and take. The audience knows the role of the conductor, his somatic modeling of the tremors from the different families of instruments, his firm grip, and how he enacts the fluidity of a pastiche; and the conductor senses the appreciation of the audience and acknowledges it, it is an unseen communion, but it is there. And following the smile is a cacophony of applauses further emphasizing the brilliance of the orchestra, as it shows that euphonic coordination is not a capacity readily available to just anybody. But the raucity of an ovation we accept without judgement.
Without judgement, here’s a question worth considering, how does one find the safe point between aesthetics and Occam’s razor?
My name is Ifeoluwa Adebiyi, my faculty host is Dr. Naomi Halas, and my mentor is Dr. Oara Neumann and if there is anything the fourth week has taught, it is that in the chaos of data collation there is an underlying truth spoken by the details of the research, which you’ll know upon a closer look. Here’s to a summer of gaining a discerning eye!!