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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This book takes complex scientific principles about randomness and explains them in a way that is understandable and provided plenty of examples that make them relevant for everyday life. Really interesting.
More between 3 and 4 stars. I more than liked it but it wasn't amazing. Hard topic to keep interest and enthusiasm on.
This book was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, he tried to make the argument that determinism is wrong because we currently lack a computer powerful enough to figure everything out. I don't think he should conflate what computing power we currently have with what is eventually possible. Still his examples of randomness in life were compelling, and interesting.
5 stars because now I finally understand the fucking stupid Monty Hall goat bullshit.
This is a book about statistics and probability. While the author tries very hard to keep it light and accessible, inevitably there's a fair amount of arithmetic thrown around in each chapter.
I mention this because you're likely to find your head spinning a few times as you try to get your brain wrapped around the points being made. It doesn't help of course that we are wired (as Mlodinow repeatedly illustrates)in such a way that we reject randomness in favor of structure, even if that structure is entirely fictitious.
Along the way Mlodinow happily demolishes the "superstar" CEO, expert Wall Street stock pickers and the notion that Hollywood executives actually have the ability to pick blockbuster movies. All of these, it turns out, owe far more to randomness than anything else.
And yet, while knowing all that, and being able to replicate at least some of the math, it's still hard to shake the feeling that my gut instinct is better than the numbers. Humans are funny creatures.
Our decisions are rarely based on facts and almost entirely on observation and guess work. Mlodinow in one aside notes that there was a noticeable increase in deaths as a result of car accidents after 9/11 as people stopped using planes. They would of course have been far safer in the air. But that's not what their instincts told them.
I'd say this book was required reading, because I guarantee you are guilty of at least some of the behavior that Mlodinow describes in the book. And it's probably not doing you any favors. If nothing else you may be able to improve the performance of your 401K...
I mention this because you're likely to find your head spinning a few times as you try to get your brain wrapped around the points being made. It doesn't help of course that we are wired (as Mlodinow repeatedly illustrates)in such a way that we reject randomness in favor of structure, even if that structure is entirely fictitious.
Along the way Mlodinow happily demolishes the "superstar" CEO, expert Wall Street stock pickers and the notion that Hollywood executives actually have the ability to pick blockbuster movies. All of these, it turns out, owe far more to randomness than anything else.
And yet, while knowing all that, and being able to replicate at least some of the math, it's still hard to shake the feeling that my gut instinct is better than the numbers. Humans are funny creatures.
Our decisions are rarely based on facts and almost entirely on observation and guess work. Mlodinow in one aside notes that there was a noticeable increase in deaths as a result of car accidents after 9/11 as people stopped using planes. They would of course have been far safer in the air. But that's not what their instincts told them.
I'd say this book was required reading, because I guarantee you are guilty of at least some of the behavior that Mlodinow describes in the book. And it's probably not doing you any favors. If nothing else you may be able to improve the performance of your 401K...
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
funny
informative
medium-paced
There are some cool things in this book but ultimately it was a book about statistics I had to read for school so the amount of enjoyment I could glean from this one was fairly limited
informative
medium-paced
It’s ok. The author wants everything to be random chance and nothing to be due to any other influence which is just as silly as thinking that chance and randomness aren’t important. The history of probability and chance as a field of study was fascinating - the application to the modern world was disappointing.
Fun book. Makes me wish I remembered more of my college statistics. I recommend.