A review by bookph1le
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

3.0

Good, but also thin. I was surprised to have reached the end of the book so quickly. He does present a lot of interesting nuggets of data, but I would have liked to have seen more depth with them. Also, some of what he presents doesn't require data science. Had he talked to a feminist scholar or read a few articles by feminists, he wouldn't have been at all shocked when his data reflected a common hang-up that women share--I definitely wasn't surprised by that tidbit.

I think one of the most interesting aspects of big data is its potential to help in medicine and in social areas. The author makes a convincing argument for the ways big data can be a valuable diagnostic tool for doctors, and how it could help identify patients who show early warning signs of various diseases. I also think big data has the potential to help police and social workers more effectively identify specific geographic areas of concern as far as potential crimes go, though I also share the author's worries about how far this could be taken.

All in all, it's a good read, entertaining and often surprising. As I said, I would just like to have seen some more depth.