--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Allowing us to zoom in on small subsets…" description: "\"“Allowing us to zoom in on small subsets of people is the third power of Big Data.”\" — Seth Stephens-Davidowitz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/seth-stephens-davidowitz-10761_data_allowing-us-to-zoom-in-on-small-subsets_45250.jpg" --- # Allowing us to zoom in on small subsets of people is the… ![“Allowing us to zoom in on small subsets of people is the third power of Big Data.” quote by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/seth-stephens-davidowitz-10761_data_allowing-us-to-zoom-in-on-small-subsets_45250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/seth-stephens-davidowitz-10761_data_allowing-us-to-zoom-in-on-small-subsets_45250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/seth-stephens-davidowitz-10761_data_allowing-us-to-zoom-in-on-small-subsets_45250.jpg) > ““Allowing us to zoom in on small subsets of people is the third power of Big Data.”” [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Big Data enables granular analysis of specific groups, revealing patterns hidden in aggregate data. **In simple terms:** Granular insight from large datasets Key Takeaway Precision analysis reveals hidden patterns Themes Data granularity Privacy Analytics Technology Society Mood Analytical Inquisitive Type Observation Insight When to use this quote - Targeted marketing - Public health research - Political polling - Customer segmentation Key Concepts Big Data Subgroup analysis Statistical power Practical Applications - Designing niche campaigns - Identifying at‑risk populations Questions to Reflect On - How does focusing on small subsets change decision‑making? - What ethical concerns arise from granular data analysis? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [People Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-power/) ## Related quotes > [“Allowing us to do many causal experiments is the fourth power of Big Data.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/allowing-us-to-do-many-causal-experiments-is-the-fourth-power-of-big/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Big Data allows us to meaningfully zoom in on small segments of a dataset to gain new insights on who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/big-data-allows-us-to-meaningfully-zoom-in-on-small-segments-of-a/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Big Data allows us to finally see what people really want and really do, not what they say they want and say they do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/big-data-allows-us-to-finally-see-what-people-really-want-and-really/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Big Data does not eliminate the need for all the other ways humans have developed over the millennia to understand the world. They complement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/big-data-does-not-eliminate-the-need-for-all-the-other-ways-humans/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“One theory I am working on: Big Data just confirms everything the late Leonard Cohen ever said. For example, Leonard Cohen once gave his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/one-theory-i-am-working-on-big-data-just-confirms-everything-the-late/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Big Data is not just about doing the same thing you would have done with surveys except with more data”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/big-data-is-not-just-about-doing-the-same-thing-you-would-have-done/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“As with Google, so with everyone else trying to use data to understand the world. The Big Data revolution is less about collecting more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/as-with-google-so-with-everyone-else-trying-to-use-data-to-understand/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [There's been the emergence of a philosophy that big data is all you need. We would suggest that, actually, numbers don't speak for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-crawford/there-s-been-the-emergence-of-a-philosophy-that-big-data-is-all-you/) [Kate Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-crawford/) > [Big data knows and can deduce more about you than Big Brother ever could.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toomas-hendrik-ilves/big-data-knows-and-can-deduce-more-about-you-than-big-brother-ever/) [Toomas Hendrik Ilves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toomas-hendrik-ilves/) > [We Facebook users have been building a treasure lode of big data that government and corporate researchers have been mining to predict and influence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-facebook-users-have-been-building-a-treasure-lode-of-big-data-that/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [We've learned our lesson with finance because they made a huge goddamn explosion that almost shut down the world. But the thing I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-o-neil/we-ve-learned-our-lesson-with-finance-because-they-made-a-huge/) [Cathy O'Neil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-o-neil/) > [People think 'big data' avoids the problem of discrimination because you are dealing with big data sets, but, in fact, big data is being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-crawford/people-think-big-data-avoids-the-problem-of-discrimination-because/) [Kate Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-crawford/) > [While many big-data providers do their best to de-identify individuals from human-subject data sets, the risk of re-identification is very real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-crawford/while-many-big-data-providers-do-their-best-to-de-identify/) [Kate Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-crawford/) > [Big data sets are never complete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-crawford/big-data-sets-are-never-complete/) [Kate Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-crawford/) > [The world is one big data problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-mcafee/the-world-is-one-big-data-problem/) [Andrew McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-mcafee/) ## More by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz > [“I am now convinced that Google searches are the most important dataset ever collected on the human psyche. This”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/i-am-now-convinced-that-google-searches-are-the-most-important/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“DIGITAL TRUTH DIGITAL LIES • Searches • Social media posts • Views • Social media likes • Clicks • Dating profiles • Swipes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/digital-truth-digital-lies-searches-social-media-posts-views-social/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Facebook is digital brag-to-my-friends-about-how-good-my-life-is serum. In Facebook world, the average adult seems to be happily married, vacationing in the Caribbean, and perusing the Atlantic.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/facebook-is-digital-brag-to-my-friends-about-how-good-my-life-is/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Sometimes new data reveals cultural differences I had never even contemplated. One example: the very different ways that men around the world respond to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/sometimes-new-data-reveals-cultural-differences-i-had-never-even/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Netflix learned a similar lesson early on in its life cycle: don’t trust what people tell you; trust what they do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/netflix-learned-a-similar-lesson-early-on-in-its-life-cycle-don-t/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Milan Kundera, the Czech-born writer, has a pithy quote about this in his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being: “Human life occurs only once,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/milan-kundera-the-czech-born-writer-has-a-pithy-quote-about-this-in/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“... I was shock aplenty by what the internet reveals about human sexuality...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/i-was-shock-aplenty-by-what-the-internet-reveals-about-human-sexuality/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“And it is certainly possible that lying played a role in the failure of the polls to predict Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. Polls, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/and-it-is-certainly-possible-that-lying-played-a-role-in-the-failure/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“... I was shocked aplenty by what the internet reveals about human sexuality...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/i-was-shocked-aplenty-by-what-the-internet-reveals-about-human/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Newspaper readership, on average, tilts a bit left. (They have data on that.) And newspapers, on average, tilt a bit left to give their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/newspaper-readership-on-average-tilts-a-bit-left-they-have-data-on/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Why is the presence of rich people such a powerful predictor of poor people’s life expectancy? One”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/why-is-the-presence-of-rich-people-such-a-powerful-predictor-of-poor/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“The next Freud will be a data scientist. The next Marx will be a data scientist. The next Salk might very well be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/the-next-freud-will-be-a-data-scientist-the-next-marx-will-be-a-data/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Clark Benson is the CEO of ranker.com, a news and entertainment site that relies heavily on A/B testing to choose headlines and site design.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/clark-benson-is-the-ceo-of-ranker-com-a-news-and-entertainment-site/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“Do you think the United States is currently a united or a divided country? If you are like most people, you would say the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/do-you-think-the-united-states-is-currently-a-united-or-a-divided/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“The world, quite simply, is too complex and too rich for little data.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/the-world-quite-simply-is-too-complex-and-too-rich-for-little-data/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) [Explore all 63 Seth Stephens-Davidowitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) ## More Data quotes > [Information is money, but data is squat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-llama-butler/information-is-money-but-data-is-squat/) Angela Llama-Butler > [“ data analytics consulting Perceptive Analtyics is a data analytic company and a trusted advisor to its clients across domains. 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It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Statistics are like miniskirts: They give you good ideas but hide the important things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ebbe-skovdahl/statistics-are-like-miniskirts-they-give-you-good-ideas-but-hide-the/) Ebbe Skovdahl > [Unlike return, however, risk is no more quantifiable at the end of an investment that it was at its beginning. Risk simply cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-klarman/unlike-return-however-risk-is-no-more-quantifiable-at-the-end-of-an/) [Seth Klarman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-klarman/) > [Finding patterns is easy in any kind of data-rich environment; that's what mediocre gamblers do. The key is in determining whether the patterns represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/finding-patterns-is-easy-in-any-kind-of-data-rich-environment-that-s/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [ \[Brazil\] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/brazil-went-to-the-un-and-said-we-need-new-standards-for-this-we-need/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [We're living in a technological world. You cannot tell me we can't do a better job getting that information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-re-living-in-a-technological-world-you-cannot-tell-me-we-can-t-do/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily. They don't care as much about attractive sites and pretty design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-berners-lee/web-users-ultimately-want-to-get-at-data-quickly-and-easily-they-don/) [Tim Berners-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-berners-lee/) > [You cannot have 300-some million Americans - and really, right, the global citizenry be at risk of having their phone conversations intercepted with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/you-cannot-have-300-some-million-americans-and-really-right-the/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [An important finding is that by determining the genome sequences of an entire family, one can identify many DNA sequencing errors and thus greatly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-hood/an-important-finding-is-that-by-determining-the-genome-sequences-of/) [Leroy Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-hood/) > [While it's wonderful that investors have access to all the data now available to them, it has become a full-time job to sift through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-bartiromo/while-it-s-wonderful-that-investors-have-access-to-all-the-data-now/) [Maria Bartiromo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-bartiromo/) > [“The amount of stored information grows four times faster than the world economy, while the processing power of computers grows nine times faster. 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