A review by ben3845
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

4.0

Everybody Lies caught my interest as a digital marketer. I’ve been fascinated by the preferences revealed in big data ever since I began working in digital marketing in 2013 — so I was hooked as author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz used big data to reveal funny, sad, interesting, and surprising insights about our modern world. The volume of data available in the digital age can be overwhelming. Stephens-Davidowitz helps the reader make sense how big data can be applied to help us learn about the world around us by outlining four key principles of big data: 1. It reveals an honesty often unavailable in surveys 2. It offers scale at low cost 3. The scale allows you to zoom in to smaller groups in new ways and 4. It provides new types of data. The author also outlines the pitfalls of big data like the curse of dimensionality (if you test enough things, one will emerge as a clear “winner” even if there is no meaningful causality), and the dangers of overpowering corporations and governments. Everybody Lies feels a bit like the sequel to Freakonomics, but I enjoyed it much more. Stephens-Davidowitz struck me as a more empathetic and funny writer. I think almost anyone could enjoy this book, but especially those with an interest in marketing or sociology.