Data as Blood / Lifeblood

Metaphor: Data is often described as the “blood” or “lifeblood” of modern systems, implying vitality, value, and central importance.

Problem / Misleading Aspect: This metaphor imports biological connotations of life, health, and morality into neutral informational processes. It can mislead policymakers, managers, and the public into thinking that data carries intrinsic worth, agency, or ethical weight, rather than being relational potentials actualised within a system. It obscures the fact that data only gains significance in context, through interaction with processes, users, and interpretation.

Relational Ontology Correction: Data is a relational phenomenon: its meaning and effect arise from alignments of system states, user actions, and interpretive context. It is not alive, and it does not flow for a purpose beyond the relational constraints of its environment.

Parody / Conceptual Highlight: Taken literally, one might picture spreadsheets pumping themselves through USB veins, hard drives clutching tiny hearts, or servers collapsing in dramatic fainting spells when a packet is lost. The humour exposes the conceptual danger: the blood metaphor anthropomorphises neutral phenomena, suggesting vitality and intention where only relational alignment exists.