I'm somewhat surprised at the level of cynicism here. "Data work" is basically science: trying to understand things empirically, building models, testing them, using them to achieve goals.
That should explain it. Yes, most of the time spent doing science is necessarily a waste of time. You can't just "go and do" something if you don't know how or what it is you want to do in the first place. That's very different though from saying that one shouldn't do science because of that.
A cynic may accept this and maintain the position that a lot of "data work" shouldn't be done, that it only plays a political role and isn't aimed at understanding in the first place, etc. However, that's a fully general argument against ever trying to understand or improve anything. It doesn't hold in general, only points at ways in which the system may be improved. You may complain about lawyers, call them goons doing "bullshit jobs", but I strongly suspect you would stop complaining about the legal system if the thugs came to beat you up every weak you didn't pay them protection money.
That should explain it. Yes, most of the time spent doing science is necessarily a waste of time. You can't just "go and do" something if you don't know how or what it is you want to do in the first place. That's very different though from saying that one shouldn't do science because of that.
A cynic may accept this and maintain the position that a lot of "data work" shouldn't be done, that it only plays a political role and isn't aimed at understanding in the first place, etc. However, that's a fully general argument against ever trying to understand or improve anything. It doesn't hold in general, only points at ways in which the system may be improved. You may complain about lawyers, call them goons doing "bullshit jobs", but I strongly suspect you would stop complaining about the legal system if the thugs came to beat you up every weak you didn't pay them protection money.