Yep couldn't agree more with you - human beings are very complicated - even one-to-one interaction can leave you flawed (e.g. just look at all the failed marriages!). I think it comes down to the simple fact that you can never experience how someone else experiences - so you'll never truly understand anothers behaviour... Unless you can climb inside their head and change their behaviour - Being John Malkovich.

I understand your point, but it's not necessarily humans against algorithms, but humans PLUS algorithms. Google realized that, and uses hundreds of freelancers worldwide to provide inputs to their complex pagerank algorithms. Pandora does the same, to classify songs and affinities. Del.icio.us does the same aggregating and categorizing the web. Algorithms can be super-ultra-smart, if you give them a hand (or a brain)... There's a brilliant article by Tim O'Reilly on last Make Magazine about the same subject. See it here: http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol08/?pg=15&pm=1&u1=texterity&liid=93a62ed593

ps: forgot to mention that, obviously, nothing will ever be a substitute for guts, for (human) insights. Nothing can even come close to amount of data the human brain can process in a fraction of second :o)

Data is good for helping to inform a decision. There isn't ever enough machine-generated data for you to come to a 100% conclusion based solely on that data when it comes to human behavior. I tend to believe that machines can't track 99% of all relevant data when it comes to trending behavioral patterns. (Do machines track my state of mind? What I had for breakfast? Whether or not I just lost one of my gloves?) Sometimes, data provides an insight on behavior that isn't necessarily expected. The indicator that there's an over-reliance on data is the view that the "insight" 1s overly valuable - to immediately lend it credence and reliability because it was unexpected...instead of inherently questioning it and/or trying to understand it. Of course, the opposite is also true. When data comes back and validates your idea/insight, are you quick to say "See? We're right!?" Or do you say "OK, how do we prove that both the data and our insight is correct?" The danger is (and always has been) over-reliance on data. Good data isn't a replacement for thinking.

In my wallet I carry a card that says; "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein Data is knowledge, true insight requires imagination and without it data remains simply numbers.

Well there are lies, dam lies and statistics/trends/fads... Different strokes for different folk I guess, the most important thing is to eat life and lots of it

Ah yes, balance.... Balance requires awareness and awareness requires listening. All of the channels you list are immensely powerful when used relevantly, and how can we adudicate on relevance? Listening to our customers, they will tell us clearly.

Funny I almost used the lies and damn lies quote as a follow up to this one -- and as Mark says its all about listening

The funny thing about research and statistics is that they can easily be manipulated to say whatever you need them to. In the right demographic, any book is a best-seller, any disease is the number one killer, any brand is the favorite, and any form of media is preferred. I was in debate in high school - talk about opening one's eyes to "compelling proof" for each side of every arguement. For any piece of evidence that clearly shut down an opponent's position, they had a card that could counter the argument. While research is valuable, we as consumers shouldn't let statistics determine how we choose to take in the world. And we as advertisers can't afford to shut down the ways we think about how we reach consumers.

I know what you mean... My hand is on the sword, a lot. I don't always pull it, sometimes I just draw it out so the sun catches the blade. I have a question ...the samurai will show the handle, and appear ready to pull it if you cross the line. I feel this way sometimes - like I just want someone to know "hey ...let me handle this before you jump all over it". Is that the same as "falling on it"?

But then again, sometimes you need to have the guts to fight for something you believe in, and not fall back to "I have so much to loose". What's the worst that can happen to you, really? Based on that question my assessment of how far I'll go begins.

Showing that you are ready to use it is a confirmation of conviction -- but like a Samurai if you pull it out without bloodying it -- you have a problem -- remember like the kid who cried wolf. And guts are great when you have substance to back them up -- and that is my point -- if you have the back-up -- go for it