In the research of big data, two distinct and diametrically opposed academic schools have emerged, namely radicalism and conservatism. Through an analysis of two typical cases, this article finds that the so-called "big data" actually refers to two types of "big data", one is to study data in a scientific way, and the other is to study science in a data way. It is the existence of the two types of big data that forms the two camps of activism and conservatism. The types of big data and their significant difference are the reasons of the formation of radicalism and conservatism camps. On the basis of summarizing the characteristics of the two kinds of big data, this paper puts forward the only approach that may eliminate the antagonism and confusion and push the big data research further.

big data  /  activism  /  conservatism  /  GFT  /  number sense