Bible CodesĪ far more well-known and controversial field is that of Bible codes. This approach is more useful to marketers studying customer reaction to their brand than serious biblical analysis but I do think it’s a good starting point and will prove more useful as language processing algorithms become more advanced and widespread. In basic terms, a program calculates the frequency of words generally considered to convey a positive sentiment vs. Boyd’s study was limited enough that it wouldn’t be put in the big data category but the techniques would be similar with a much larger set of passages.Īnother project published at explores the “sentiment” of every biblical event. We can then take a text in which the genre is controversial (Genesis 1:1-2:3 in this case) and compare the distribution of verb forms to appropriately categorize them. Specifically, he looked at the distribution of four types of finite verbs in sections that are indisputably poetic and those which are prose. He presented a statistical approach to determining whether a passage is prose or poetry. I know of at least two practical examples in biblical studies.įirst is Steven Boyd’s work in the RATE project. For the most part, language is analyzed according to word frequency or proximity to other words of a known type. Machines have a very difficult time with natural language, though major search engines and other startups are making great strides in that area. It is “unstructured” in the sense that it isn’t arranged in a way a computer can easily understand. One of the more difficult areas of big data is text mining. With it we can more easily study language structures, writing styles, or discover hidden codes. The field of Big Data is rapidly expanding the possibilities for quantitatively and visually analyzing text as complex and rich as that of the Bible. The words of scripture create a tightly knit fabric exciting pictures emerge when we weave them together with silicon and electrons.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |