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saint_patrick's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
juliangerez's review against another edition
3.0
Funny and quirky with lots of interesting tidbits, though it glosses over a lot of important topics such as causality (1 section within a chapter) and ethics and privacy-related concerns (1 very short chapter). I know it’s pop-sciency, but still...
On the other hand, it’s really well written and a pleasure to go through.
On the other hand, it’s really well written and a pleasure to go through.
mexscrabbler's review against another edition
5.0
Wow.
I was extremely impressed by this book, which I picked up after reading one of the author's columns in the NYT. The author is a data scientist who is applying his skills and techniques to the social "sciences," which up to now have not been very scientific. This is possible because of the availability of new, massive data sources (such as google queries) which can be used to analyze anonymized human behavior. His findings apply to marketing, sales, sociology, psychology, health, etc.
Here are some things I particularly found interesting, especially backed up by numbers:
- Deep, ingrained racism is alive and well in the US
- Prejudices towards girls and women are alive and well in the US
- People use social media to project an idealized image of themselves
- People's behavior is far from ideal!
- Some early childhood events can be shown to correlate with adult behaviors
- Depending on specific geography, some parts of the US are still the land of opportunity
- Doppelganger analysis (search for similarity) is useful in both baseball and the health industry
- The use of A/B testing by companies is making the internet more and more addictive
- The value of an Ivy league education is overestimated
Over the next few years, as more data scientists focus on these resources, we will start to glean more quantifiable insights into people's behavior.
Highly recommended
I was extremely impressed by this book, which I picked up after reading one of the author's columns in the NYT. The author is a data scientist who is applying his skills and techniques to the social "sciences," which up to now have not been very scientific. This is possible because of the availability of new, massive data sources (such as google queries) which can be used to analyze anonymized human behavior. His findings apply to marketing, sales, sociology, psychology, health, etc.
Here are some things I particularly found interesting, especially backed up by numbers:
- Deep, ingrained racism is alive and well in the US
- Prejudices towards girls and women are alive and well in the US
- People use social media to project an idealized image of themselves
- People's behavior is far from ideal!
- Some early childhood events can be shown to correlate with adult behaviors
- Depending on specific geography, some parts of the US are still the land of opportunity
- Doppelganger analysis (search for similarity) is useful in both baseball and the health industry
- The use of A/B testing by companies is making the internet more and more addictive
- The value of an Ivy league education is overestimated
Over the next few years, as more data scientists focus on these resources, we will start to glean more quantifiable insights into people's behavior.
Highly recommended
kingmcgaw's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining and interesting but ultimately felt quite superficial (despite all the talk of deep dives into data). Lack of a cohesive structure detracted from the overall impression as well.
christospanayi's review against another edition
4.0
This must be one of the most entertaining non fiction books concerned with a relatively dry subject matter. I had very low expectations and was very happily surprised. Great ideas, to the point and very well written.
The author must be one of the most likable authors I have ever read. I love me an author who breaks the mold and writes the conclusion I would like to read.
The author must be one of the most likable authors I have ever read. I love me an author who breaks the mold and writes the conclusion I would like to read.
sweemeng's review against another edition
4.0
Very good high level view of what you can do with data, how results can surprise us. It also talk about pitfalls using data without scrutiny
travisreiter's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
4.5
Fascinating analysis of Google big data searches that give insights surveys could never give. Fun and easy read.