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660 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
660 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
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I really enjoyed Davidowitzs writing style. It was easy to understand even for a nonnative speaker.
The book was very anecdotal at times which I found to be a little too much.
Nevertheless I think the book taught me a lot and I feel like my understanding of data science increased (it’s still very basic though).
It took me a while to get to the end of the book but against all likelihood I finished it and I enjoyed it.
Luckily for the author my rating of the book is solemnly based on the writing style and on how interesting the content was to me as I can’t rate the information given in the book due to a lack of knowledge.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book was very anecdotal at times which I found to be a little too much.
Nevertheless I think the book taught me a lot and I feel like my understanding of data science increased (it’s still very basic though).
It took me a while to get to the end of the book but against all likelihood I finished it and I enjoyed it.
Luckily for the author my rating of the book is solemnly based on the writing style and on how interesting the content was to me as I can’t rate the information given in the book due to a lack of knowledge.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A discussion of different uses and limitations of Big Data. The title doesn't really apply to most of the content of the book, and to be honest the "everybody lies" parts were much less interesting to me than everything else. But still, the actual topic of big data interested me.
The upshot of this book is not that big data is the holy grail. Rather, the recurring theme in all of Stephens-Davidowitz's interesting examples is just that most self-reporting is awful.
I'm still skeptical about the big data revolution--and this book doesn't really focus on implicit bias in analysis of large data sets--but the conventional research methods of social sciences are amusingly torn to pieces (much like advertising ROI was absolutely shredded in the digital age where measurement was no longer entirely by gut).
I'm still skeptical about the big data revolution--and this book doesn't really focus on implicit bias in analysis of large data sets--but the conventional research methods of social sciences are amusingly torn to pieces (much like advertising ROI was absolutely shredded in the digital age where measurement was no longer entirely by gut).
informative
medium-paced
I was a little disappointed with this one.
Sure there were some good bits about the potential of big data, especially Google search data, and its ability to transform the "soft" social sciences into something more like a hard science. There were some interesting points and anecdotes about the effect this would have on the development of philosophy, politics, commerce, sport and medicine.
But the inordinate fascination of the author with sexual perversity made reading the book feel like the mental equivalent of wading through sewage. I listened to the audiobook, so it felt like someone incessantly piping litanies of putrid filth into my head. I fast-forwarded to try and avoid the disgusting imagery but half an hour later he was still harping on about some deviant sexual fetish or other.
There are many worthwhile books exploring the potential of Big Data. I wouldn't recommend this one. The payoff is just not worth the disgust factor.
Sure there were some good bits about the potential of big data, especially Google search data, and its ability to transform the "soft" social sciences into something more like a hard science. There were some interesting points and anecdotes about the effect this would have on the development of philosophy, politics, commerce, sport and medicine.
But the inordinate fascination of the author with sexual perversity made reading the book feel like the mental equivalent of wading through sewage. I listened to the audiobook, so it felt like someone incessantly piping litanies of putrid filth into my head. I fast-forwarded to try and avoid the disgusting imagery but half an hour later he was still harping on about some deviant sexual fetish or other.
There are many worthwhile books exploring the potential of Big Data. I wouldn't recommend this one. The payoff is just not worth the disgust factor.
Anecdotal, and speculative at best. Reader's Digest level read in a way that makes it a bit cringe-worthy.
informative
It becomes very apparent early on in the book that the author has some biases. I understand that, we all do, but the impression I get after reading it is the author will readily accept data that supports their biases but when the data conflicts with the authors beliefs they'll quickly explain it away as the data can't encapsulate everything (people Google the N word, Trump wins. Baseball players performance can be mapped via doppelgangers, but that doesn't account for steroids and other variables). I agree with some of the other critical reviews stating the author is trying to live up to the hype of Freakonomics but in my opinion he fails miserably. I don't feel the author adequately explains how his big data findings are more causal rather than correlary and it isn't until the end of the book he discusses this at all. The author also throws in random jabs at people that I feel are unnecessary (what if we had a Bush Dynasty, gay people packing up their Judy Garland CDs when the move, World of Warcraft players being middle aged men in their mother's basements). I found most of this extremely unneccessary. If you want to write an academic paper write one, if you want to write jokes, do that, but please don't combine them to try and be popular and hip. Another peeve I had with this book is all of the footnotes for any referenced works, are all in the back of the book but without the references on the pages and paragraphs relevant to the citation.
Overall I felt the book felt lazy and preachy and it was somewhat agonizing to get through as several of my friends could attest to as I aired my grievances with them after each chapter.
Overall I felt the book felt lazy and preachy and it was somewhat agonizing to get through as several of my friends could attest to as I aired my grievances with them after each chapter.
medium-paced
I am so frustrated and disappointed by this book. I wanted to love it, but the assumptions Stephens-Davidowitz made beginning at the very first chapters were so horrible that I couldn't get past it.
He can track what is typed into a search bar. He cannot know what that person was thinking when they typed it in. However, he blithely made assumptions left and right. Maybe there was more to the research that wasn't covered, but that was such horrible methodology that I couldn't get past it.
THIS IS A SERIOUS FLAW THAT MAKES ME SHOUTY.
He can track what is typed into a search bar. He cannot know what that person was thinking when they typed it in. However, he blithely made assumptions left and right. Maybe there was more to the research that wasn't covered, but that was such horrible methodology that I couldn't get past it.
THIS IS A SERIOUS FLAW THAT MAKES ME SHOUTY.