_Understandeconstructing Data: Lessons From jAIna Onto-Epistemology

This is an experimental application of the Jaina seven-valued logic on the question of dataism, the problematic, chiefly Euro-US-centric, ideology for data-driven technosolutionism, in the context of higher education. Based on my own teaching experience and on this underrepresented onto-epistemological framework from India, I show the simultaneous validity of seven seemingly contradictory arguments, suggesting that this may be a practical way to escape unnecessary disputes within the field of critical data studies. These arguments focus on the interplay between different contexts where data are considered meaningful (or meaningless) and/or existentially relevant (or irrelevant).