# Data is the New Guano **URL:** **By** Paul Matzko **Published:** October 14, 2021 --- Data isn't the new oil. It's guano, and you should want more of it. ## Summary: What happens when a raw material that is valueless suddenly becomes valuable? If it's bird guano in the 19th century, you mine it and save the agricultural economy. If it's data in the late 20th century, you collect it and create a new digital economy. ## Further Reading: Dirk Auer on the dangers of formalizing user property rights in data: [https://truthonthemarket.com/2021/03/23/the-problem-of-data-property-rights/](https://truthonthemarket.com/2021/03/23/the-problem-of-data-property-rights/) Daniel Immerwahr lectures on "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Guano But Were Afraid to Ask.": [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnI4l6rFuHI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnI4l6rFuHI) Noah Smith says you should be excited, not scared, by the prospect of more artificial intelligences: [https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-09/we-may-be-exactly-wrong-about-technology-and-inequality](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-12-09/we-may-be-exactly-wrong-about-technology-and-inequality) ### Music Attributions Ethernight Club by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7612-ethernight-club](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7612-ethernight-club) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Wretched Destroyer by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5017-wretched-destroyer](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5017-wretched-destroyer) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Porch Blues by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4232-porch-blues](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4232-porch-blues) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) The Show Must Be Go by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4509-the-show-must-be-go](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4509-the-show-must-be-go) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Wet Riffs by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4618-wet-riffs](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4618-wet-riffs) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Aurea Carmina by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4982-aurea-carmina](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4982-aurea-carmina) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Destiny Day by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4984-destiny-day](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4984-destiny-day) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Magic Scout Cottages by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4672-magic-scout-cottages](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4672-magic-scout-cottages) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Pamgaea by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4193-pamgaea](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4193-pamgaea) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Trouble by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4549-trouble](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4549-trouble) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Deck the Halls B by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3631-deck-the-halls-b](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3631-deck-the-halls-b) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Newer Wave by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7016-newer-wave](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7016-newer-wave) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Inspired by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Odyssey by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4995-odyssey](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4995-odyssey) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Cut Trance by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3574-cut-trance](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3574-cut-trance) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Chill Wave by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3498-chill-wave](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3498-chill-wave) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Virtutes Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4590-virtutes-instrumenti](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4590-virtutes-instrumenti) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Wallpaper by Kevin MacLeod Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4604-wallpaper](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4604-wallpaper) License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license) Sound effects courtesy of [Zapsplat.com](http://zapsplat.com/)