Yes, it might seem weird to mention anime, data science, and technology in the same breath. But you might be surprised to learn that there’s quite a deep connection across these domains. I am interested in all three (along with reading, listening to jazz, R&B or classical music, and watching sci-fi — all good ways to relax in the evening at home).

是的 ，同时提及动画，数据科学和技术似乎很奇怪。 但是，您可能会惊讶地发现，这些领域之间存在着很深的联系。 我对这三种方式都感兴趣(除了阅读，听爵士乐，R＆B或古典音乐以及看科幻音乐，这些都是晚上在家中放松身心的好方法)。

One thing that’s great about certain anime is that they are heavily influenced by literature, philosophy, and psychology. If you’re interested in these topics you’ll find many references to them, including direct inspiration from some of the most influential thinkers in human history.

某些动漫的一大优点是，它们受到文学，哲学和心理学的极大影响。 如果您对这些主题感兴趣，您会发现许多与之相关的参考文献，包括人类历史上一些最有影响力的思想家的直接启示。

In this piece, I want to give you a run down of three key anime that you might want to start with — and don’t worry, I won’t include any spoilers. I’ll only run through the necessary framework and key references in each case.

在本篇文章中，我想给您简要介绍一下您可能要开始使用的三个关键动画，并且不用担心，我不会包含任何破坏者。 在每种情况下，我将只介绍必要的框架和关键参考。

Let’s get started!

让我们开始吧！

1 PSYCHO-PASSUsing mathematics to determine “criminality”

1 PSYCHO-PASS 使用数学确定“犯罪”

We’ll kick off with Psycho-Pass, a psychological science fiction anime set in a dystopian future. In this society, people are governed by a complex algorithm that can precisely compute the probability of an individual to commit a crime. The name of this algorithm is the Sybil System. At a high-level, it’s able to identify the “potential criminality” of an individual by considering several factors including their genetic predisposition to criminal activity, their family history, and the environment in which they grew up. There is also the possibility that the victim of a crime becomes a criminal themselves — meaning that his or her rate of criminality could significantly increase.

我们将从Psycho-Pass开始 ，这是一部反乌托邦未来的心理科幻动画。 在这个社会中，人们受一个复杂的算法支配，该算法可以精确地计算出个人犯罪的可能性。 该算法的名称为Sybil System 。 在较高的层次上，它可以通过考虑几个因素来识别一个人的“潜在犯罪”，这些因素包括他们对犯罪活动的遗传易感性，他们的家族史以及他们成长的环境。 犯罪的受害者也有可能自己成为罪犯，这意味着他或她的犯罪率可能会大大提高。

Thanks to this algorithm, police can identify a potential criminal well before they commit a crime. So, based on the rate of criminality computed by said algorithm, police can kill or arrest a criminal prior to a crime being committed as part of a prevention effort.

借助此算法，警察可以在犯罪之前就很好地识别出潜在的犯罪分子。 因此，基于由所述算法计算出的犯罪率，警察可以在预防犯罪之前杀死或逮捕罪犯。

As you might expect, the algorithm seems to be a perfect solution — well, until Shogo Makishima comes along. He’s an art professor with anarchist tendencies; tendencies that are particularly directed towards the Sybil System itself. Makishima is a highly cultured and mild-mannered man. But he wants to destroy the Sybil System, believing that it wrests control from the individual — it is a deterministic system that clearly provides no space for alternative outcomes, or any possibility for individual to change and choose a different path. Makishima is fully prepared to break the law in order to change this state of affairs. But ironically, the Sybil System is unable to compute his rate of criminality accurately — in fact, it classifies him as a “good and normal” citizen with a criminality rate near zero.

如您所料，该算法似乎是一个完美的解决方案-很好，直到Shogo Makishima出现。 他是一位具有无政府主义倾向的艺术教授； 特别针对Sybil系统本身的趋势。 牧岛是一个非常有教养的人。 但是他想摧毁Sybil系统，因为它认为它要夺取个人的控制权-这是一个确定性系统，显然没有为其他结果提供空间，也没有个人为改变和选择不同道路的任何可能性。 牧岛准备充分改变法律以改变这种状况。 但具有讽刺意味的是，Sybil系统无法准确计算其犯罪率-实际上，该系统将他归类为“良好和正常”的公民，犯罪率接近零。

This gives Makishima enormous power. He — unlike other people — can break seemingly any societal taboo, and can behave in ways that apparently betray his genetic predisposition, his family history, and the environment in which he grew up. Perhaps Shogo Makishima exists on a different level of consciousness compared to others in society.

这赋予了牧岛巨大的力量。 与其他人不同，他似乎可以打破任何社会禁忌，并且行为举止显然可以背叛他的遗传倾向，家族史和成长环境。 与社会上的其他人相比，也许牧岛昭吾的意识水平不同。

Psycho-Pass is truly fascinating in terms of its ability to challenge ideas about the limits of data science and A.I. as they relate to human behaviour — especially when it comes to predicting what humans are likely to do in the future based on their past. It also raises serious — and relevant — questions around the ethical implications of leveraging data-driven A.I. systems to make decisions that impact human beings in the real world.

Psycho-Pass真正令人着迷的是，它能够挑战有关数据科学和AI极限的想法，因为它们与人类行为有关，尤其是在根据人类过去预测人类未来可能做的事情时。 它还围绕利用数据驱动的AI系统做出影响现实世界中人类的决策的伦理涵义提出了严重且相关的问题。

2 GHOST IN THE SHELLThe impact of transhumanism on our fundamental humanity

2 幽灵般 的幽灵超人主义对我们基本人类的影响

Ghost in the Shell is the famous, cult-classic cyberpunk anime. Even if you aren’t an anime watcher, you’re likely to be familiar with it, if only due to its massive influence on pop culture at large (if you’ve seen The Matrix, then you’ll find a great deal of GitS DNA there). It’s a future built largely around the idea that science is able to extend human evolution through artificial means. It is the era of superhumans, and a realisation of the expectations of Nietzsche’s Zarathustra.

《攻壳机动队》是著名的邪教经典赛博朋克动漫。 即使您不是动漫观察者，您也可能会熟悉它，只要是由于它对整个流行文化产生了巨大影响(如果您已经看过Matrix ，那么您会发现很多那里有GitS DNA)。 这是一个以科学能够通过人为手段扩展人类进化的思想为基础的未来。 这是超人类的时代，也是尼采对扎拉图斯特拉的期盼的实现。

In this world, transhumanism reigns supreme. Individuals have complete control over their personal advancement thanks to the ability to artificially modify both their minds and bodies. The downside of this is that both of these entities can be hacked by others as well.

在这个世界上， 超人类主义占统治地位。 由于能够人为地改变自己的思想和身体，个人可以完全控制自己的进步。 不利的一面是，这两个实体也可能被其他人入侵。

The term “transhumanism” was coined by Julian Huxley, the brother of Aldous Huxley, known for his visionary novel Brave New World. Transhumanism is fundamentally about the idea that humanity can be improved by leveraging science and technology — even up to the point of using eugenics.

“超人类主义”一词是由Aldous Huxley的兄弟朱利安·赫coin黎(Julian Huxley)创造的，他以他的有远见的小说《 勇敢的新世界》而著称。 超人类主义从根本上讲就是可以通过利用科学和技术来改善人类，甚至达到使用优生学的观点。

Ghost in the Shell’s protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is the commander of Japan’s Public Security Organisation 9 (Section 9), which primarily concerns itself with fighting cybercrime. Given the nature of the world (and that, for example, consciousness itself is independent of the body and is represented by code that is fully transferrable over digital networks), it’s no surprise that all of the Major’s decisions are influenced by algorithms that compute the potential effectiveness of each possible action.

壳牌主角草木元子少校是日本公共安全组织9(第9节)的指挥官，该组织主要负责打击网络犯罪。 考虑到世界的本质(例如，意识本身独立于身体，并由可在数字网络上完全转移的代码表示)，毫不奇怪，所有少校的决定都会受到计算该行为的算法的影响。每个可能动作的潜在效果。

Major Kusanagi is not unlike everyone else in society, in the sense that her mind and body are a mix of both natural and artificial entities — her digitised consciousness exists independent of her robotic body. Despite the highly-artificial nature of Kusanagi’s being, she still displays many fundamentally human psychological traits. This prompts us to wonder what humanity actually is. If your flesh-and-blood body can be replaced by a disposable machine, and your consciousness itself is an ethereal (and theoretically immortal) digital construct, then what is it that makes you human? Do you have an eternal soul (as thinkers like Carl Jung and James Hillman may argue)? Or is your existence entirely limited to the transient (and hackable/deletable) lines of code that make up your digital consciousness?

Kusanagi少校与社会上的每个人都不同，她的思想和身体是自然和人造实体的混合，她的数字化意识独立于机器人身体而存在。 尽管Kusanagi的存在具有高度人为的性质，但她仍然表现出许多基本的人类心理特征。 这促使我们怀疑人类到底是什么。 如果您的有血有肉的身体可以用一次性机器代替，并且您的意识本身就是一种虚幻的(理论上是不朽的)数字结构，那么，这是什么使您成为人类 ？ 您是否有永恒的灵魂(如卡尔·荣格和詹姆斯·希尔曼这样的思想家可能会争论)？ 还是您的存在完全局限于构成您的数字意识的代码的短暂(可破解/可删除)行？

3 DEATH NOTEFinding patterns in chaos

3 死亡笔记 在混乱中寻找模式

Death Note is a little different to the previous two examples in one important aspect: it doesn’t have anything to do with A.I., machine learning, or anything like that. Rather, it’s more of a psychological thriller — and it certainly is important to consider for anyone who works with data. Why? Because it deals heavily with concepts around data analysis, and especially finding relevant patterns in data in order to solve problems.

死亡笔记在一个重要方面与前两个示例略有不同：它与AI，机器学习或诸如此类没有任何关系。 相反，它更像是一种心理惊悚片，对于任何使用数据的人来说，考虑到这一点当然很重要。 为什么？ 因为它主要处理有关数据分析的概念，尤其是在数据中查找相关模式以解决问题。

The two main protagonists — the student, Light Yagami, and the mysterious detective L Lawliet — tend to solve problems almost as though they were data scientists. They use data to try to anticipate (and understand) the tactics of their adversary.

两位主要人物-学生Light Yagami和神秘的侦探L Lawliet-倾向于解决问题，就好像他们是数据科学家一样。 他们使用数据来尝试预测(并理解)对手的战术。

Both L and Light are in competition, too, each trying to best each other when it comes to defeating their adversaries. It’s like a grand chess game between two powerful minds. The approach reminds me of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The techniques utilised here aren’t so far removed from the methodical steps a data scientist follows when they are looking for meaningful patterns.

L和Light也在竞争中，在击败对手方面都力求做到最好。 这就像是两个强大的头脑之间的国际象棋比赛。 这种方法使我想起了孙子的《孙子兵法》 。 数据科学家在寻找有意义的模式时所遵循的有条不紊的方法步骤至今仍未消除。

Are there any overarching lessons to be drawn here? Well, although each of these series are different, there is an underlying thread related to the importance of logic and the way it impacts our thinking and decision-making. It is natural for people to follow their own prejudices and feelings; they can talk themselves into a particular position regardless of what they actually know, and whether or not their view is supported by objective data.

这里有什么要总结的教训吗？ 好吧，尽管这些系列中的每个系列都不相同，但是存在一个与逻辑的重要性及其影响我们的思维和决策方式有关的基本线程。 人们自然会遵循自己的偏见和感情。 无论他们实际知道什么 ，以及他们的观点是否得到客观数据的支持，他们都可以将自己摆在特定的位置。

(We are living through a time where this is an especially pernicious problem, making it even more relevant. Ed.)

( 我们正处在一个特别有害的问题的时代，这使其变得更加重要。 )

Data-driven approaches to decision-making (including appropriate use of algorithms) could be a partial solution to the problem. Of course, algorithms themselves are designed by human beings, and are bound by human-designed parameters in the first place. So it’s not just a question of using algorithms, it’s also a question of adopting suitable methods and practices to design algorithms that, as much as possible, avoid human tendencies toward bias and prejudice. Certainly though, suitably-designed algorithms could be a tool to help us overcome our own prejudices — perhaps even to recognise when they exist in the first place.

数据驱动的决策方法(包括适当使用算法)可能是该问题的部分解决方案。 当然，算法本身是由人类设计的，并且首先受人类设计的参数约束。 因此，这不仅是使用算法的问题，还是采用适当的方法和实践来设计算法的问题，这些算法和实践应尽可能避免人为偏见和偏见。 当然可以肯定的是，经过适当设计的算法可以成为帮助我们克服自己偏见的工具-甚至可以识别它们最初存在的时间。

I believe that working with data effectively also requires a good grasp of philosophy, literature, and psychology. It’s not just about raw technical skills. Data scientists, therefore, could be considered a new kind of thinker — one that understands and leverages data, but who is equipped to consider that data in a broader human context that isn’t purely mechanistic.

我认为，有效地使用数据还需要对哲学，文学和心理学有很好的了解。 这不仅涉及原始的技术技能。 因此，数据科学家可以被认为是一种新型的思想家 –理解并利用数据的思想者，但是他有能力在更广泛的，并非纯粹是机械的人类环境中考虑数据。

There are plenty of other fascinating anime that effectively touch on the topics I’ve described here. But for me, these three specific anime draw a strong connection to data science and technology. If you enjoy any of these anime, you might be inclined to pursue these related topics in more detail. And if you do happen to have any suggestions on anime that you think people interested in these topics should consider, please feel free to add them in the comments.

还有许多其他有趣的动画可以有效地涉及到我在此描述的主题。 但是对我而言，这三种特定的动画与数据科学和技术有着密切的联系。 如果您喜欢这些动画中的任何一个，则可能会更详细地研究这些相关主题。 并且，如果您确实对动漫有任何建议，而对这些主题感兴趣的人应该考虑，请随时在评论中添加它们。

Thanks for reading this. There are some other ways you can keep in touch with me and follow my work:

感谢您阅读本文。 您可以通过其他方法与我保持联系并关注我的工作：

• Subscribe to my newsletter.

  订阅我的时事通讯。

• You can also get in touch via my Telegram group, Data Science for Beginners.

  您也可以通过我的电报小组“ 面向初学者的数据科学”进行联系 。