Why must every data scientist be a Platonist

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.