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Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
3 reviews
cmfreeman2's review
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Data dethrones conjecture in this adventuresome look at human behavior
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Violence, Suicide, Body shaming, Racism, and Sexual content
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Overview:
Human thoughts are very complex, making many different ways to access them subject to a variety of limitations. Big data via the internet is very revealing about people. What people search for is information that can reveal what they are thinking about. Providing a different way to learn about people. There are four ways that big data adds value to research which are 1) new types of data, 2) honest data, 3) zoom on small subsets, and 4) generate causal experiments. The internet is a primary source of data that uses messy traces, unlike traditional sources of data such as surveys and questionnaires which are very neat. Big data has many limitations as well, but it can help in a variety of situations. A problem with big data is that as it enables better predictions about human behavior, the information can be misused by corporations and governments leading to various forms of nefarious discrimination activities.
Human thoughts are very complex, making many different ways to access them subject to a variety of limitations. Big data via the internet is very revealing about people. What people search for is information that can reveal what they are thinking about. Providing a different way to learn about people. There are four ways that big data adds value to research which are 1) new types of data, 2) honest data, 3) zoom on small subsets, and 4) generate causal experiments. The internet is a primary source of data that uses messy traces, unlike traditional sources of data such as surveys and questionnaires which are very neat. Big data has many limitations as well, but it can help in a variety of situations. A problem with big data is that as it enables better predictions about human behavior, the information can be misused by corporations and governments leading to various forms of nefarious discrimination activities.
People tend to be way more honest in their search terms rather than what they claim about themselves. Depending on the context, they can be honest because of potential consequences, or because there are no consequences. Surveys are usually anonymous, but people still lie on them because they want to look good. The desirability bias causes people to lie about who they are relative to who they want to be. Impersonal data tends to be more honest. People will confess when they are alone rather than in the presence of others. Facilitates knowing what people do rather than say they do.
Big data facilitates better understanding of the topics which can lead to better resolution methods. Big data reveals that individuals are not alone in their insecurities and embarrassing behavior. Making overt covert suffering. Google data can highlight many vulnerable people, as they might not want to report their trauma to official sources.
Offline experiments are time consuming and costly. The digital space enables cheap and fast randomized experiments. Gaps in understanding can be filled by testing. Gaps always exist.
Big data has limitations. The numbers measure what can gathered, not necessarily what is wanted or important. Models created from the data does not indicate the reason why the model works. Knowing why models work may not be that important. But with this limitation, there is no indication of insights that can be gained and ways to improve understanding of the topics. There are data sources in which do facilitate lying rather than honesty. When there is no incentive to tell the truth, people make themselves appear better. Online presence is not always anonymous, and can cater to an audience.
Caveats?
The book is well written with plenty of examples and provides a general understanding of the power and complexity of big data. There are many topics in this book which are very sensitive, as in very private and personal. As such, the book may not be appropriate for minors.
The book is well written with plenty of examples and provides a general understanding of the power and complexity of big data. There are many topics in this book which are very sensitive, as in very private and personal. As such, the book may not be appropriate for minors.
Although big data does open up more opportunities to consider how people think, what matters is how the data is interpreted. There are a variety of interpretations of the data, of which there can be many misleading interpretations. Big data does offer lots to think about, but not how to think about what it brings up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
There are many topics in this book which are very sensitive, as in very private and personal. As such, the book may not be appropriate for minors.
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