Chemometrics; what do we mean with it, and what do we want from it?

What we mean with chemometrics is closely connected to what we want from it, our idealized view of chemistry, data, statistics, models, and what not. Personally, I have a fairly clear opinion of what I mean with, and what I want chemometrics to be. Of course, this view is based on my experience in academic and industrial chemistry, and I shall here try to explain these views, and the chemical and practical reasons (rationalizations) thereof. These views may seem somewhat provocative, but this is not the objective. I just want to make us reflect on what we, as chemometricians, are doing. My views will be focussed on the role of chemometrics in chemistry, on how I see statistics as partly consistent, and partly inconsistent with the framework of chemistry, and where we should aim for the future (of chemometrics).