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659 reviews for:
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
3.82 AVERAGE
659 reviews for:
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
3.82 AVERAGE
This book really just suffers from not being published in 2005. It's solid and thought provoking, but when the best way to describe a book is Signal and the Noise meets Outliers meets Freakonomics, it's safe to say you're in extremely well-tread territory.
This book tries too hard to be Freakonomics. The first two parts are full of random examples of interesting but mostly pointless things that can learned via Google search trends. However, a whole lot of assumptions are made off these bits of data that don't seem to have much basis in factual scientific methods of research. Unprofessional jokes are thrown in randomly. If you need a footnote to explain why a joke was not homophobic maybe you should have just skipped the joke. And any book of less than 300 pages of text should not need to use the same example three times, especially when it's about how the author can't believe women are concerned about the smell of their vagina.
The last section of the book explains the limitations big data holds and is really the most grounded section, the rest being almost hagiography. It would have done a lot to work the third section into the examples of the first two sections. It would have balanced out the praise and also would have done much to explain the flaws present in some of the examples included.
Some cool facts buried in a lot of murky oddness.
Disclaimer: I was given this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The last section of the book explains the limitations big data holds and is really the most grounded section, the rest being almost hagiography. It would have done a lot to work the third section into the examples of the first two sections. It would have balanced out the praise and also would have done much to explain the flaws present in some of the examples included.
Some cool facts buried in a lot of murky oddness.
Disclaimer: I was given this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The more data we get from Google searches, the more we learn that Americans are far more racist than any poll shows. Oh, and Americans watch even more porn than you think they do.
Really interesting uses of search result data, but the author’s take can be a little careless, oblivious, and tone-deaf when it comes to domestic abuse/murder, assault, racial issues, and gender.
This was fine - funny at times, but it sometimes felt like the author was trying to be provocative in the middle-school-boy sense. It's nice to read about what big data can tell us, but it's also worth remembering that it has many, many limitations.
A great book about the hidden truths of current American beliefs. Yes, people are still racist, they just know not to be vitriolic in public.
Excellent book. I enjoyed the variety of topics covered and the description of datasets. Some other reviews compared this book to Freakanomics. The comparison is very fair, but this book is updated to include how much more available social data is because of the internet. The author references Freakanomics in his concluding chapter enthusiastically.
Nice job looking at different questions to ask and different sources of data.
Nice job looking at different questions to ask and different sources of data.
I think the idea of big data is fascinating! Unfortunately, this book didn’t really connect all the dots for me. I don’t really agree with some of the conclusions that the author comes too. And also questioned some of his studies. But it did bring up some interesting points.
Don’t worry about spending your time on this one.
Don’t worry about spending your time on this one.
Super interesting trivia, and really great comparisons of intuition versus what people really think when no one is looking.
i think if i weren’t so statistically challenged, i’d find work in data science very compelling.
i think it’s more likely i’ll try my best to learn and understand it and figure out how to best share its existence with others so they might be compelled, moved, and informed themselves.
a lot of reviews seemed somewhat dissatisfied by the often light or breezy tone this book takes. it, after all, seeks not just to educate but to entertain as well. to that, i say that this book does what it sets out to do, and to expect or ask anything else of it would suggest you’re looking for a different one. if you’re going to be offended by statistical examinations of porn searches (and what this might mean for human sexuality), or even more surprisingly criticize this as some gimmicky appeal to men (as if women don’t also watch porn or have sex /gasp), then this probably isn’t for you.
everybody lies has funny moments, relatable moments, sad moments, but above all it offers a broad and comprehensive glimpse into how much of humanity and society might be better understood (or affected) by big data. seth stephens-davidowitz writes in an accessible and slightly jocular voice, occasionally on perhaps more crude subjects, but ultimately creates a genuinely enjoyable and extremely interesting book.
i think it’s more likely i’ll try my best to learn and understand it and figure out how to best share its existence with others so they might be compelled, moved, and informed themselves.
a lot of reviews seemed somewhat dissatisfied by the often light or breezy tone this book takes. it, after all, seeks not just to educate but to entertain as well. to that, i say that this book does what it sets out to do, and to expect or ask anything else of it would suggest you’re looking for a different one. if you’re going to be offended by statistical examinations of porn searches (and what this might mean for human sexuality), or even more surprisingly criticize this as some gimmicky appeal to men (as if women don’t also watch porn or have sex /gasp), then this probably isn’t for you.
everybody lies has funny moments, relatable moments, sad moments, but above all it offers a broad and comprehensive glimpse into how much of humanity and society might be better understood (or affected) by big data. seth stephens-davidowitz writes in an accessible and slightly jocular voice, occasionally on perhaps more crude subjects, but ultimately creates a genuinely enjoyable and extremely interesting book.