Predicting Behaviorfrom data
Source http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/09/predicting_customers_unedited_behavior.html
And
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/10/big_datas_biggest_obstacles.html
Big Data provides objective information about people's behavior. Not their beliefs or morals. Not what they would like their behavior to be. Not what they tell the world their behavior is, but rather what it really is, unedited.
With Big Data, current limitations on the interpretation of human behavior mostly go away. We can know whether you are the sort of person who will pay back loans. We can see if you're a good leader. We can tell you if you're likely to get diabetes.
Scientists can do all this because Big Data is beginning to expose us to two facts. One, your behavior is largely determined by your social context. And two, behavior is much more predictable than you suspect. Together, these facts mean that all I need to see is some of your behaviors, and I can infer the rest, just by comparing you to the people in your crowd.
….. Ultimately, it will enable us to predict events.