Romaticism vs. Empiricism

I’ve just finished reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson as well as a fine article “Should you invest in the long tail?” in the Economist by Anita Elberse. Although I take both pieces of writing with a grain of salt one thing stands out. The scientist, Chris, conjured up a theory without any supporting data and the marketer, Anita, provided substantial supporting data and conjured up a conclusion. Chris said the long tail is fatter, while Anita found the tail is flatter. On the surface, what we have is a romantic physicist and an empirical marketer.