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A review by annoyedhumanoid
You Are Not Expected to Understand This: How 26 Lines of Code Changed the World by Torie Bosch
informative
reflective
fast-paced
2.25
i actively avoid both short story collections and non-fiction so it's a wonder i read this collection of essays, but i chose it because of its clickbait subtitle ("how 26 pieces of code have changed the world" would be more accurate; it is not about exactly 26 lines, it's simply composed of 26 essays more-or-less about code), its illustrations, and my general interest in the topic as a computer science student. in the end, the illustrations added little value, and the same is true of the essays themselves.
the essay about tracking pixels was so rudimentary that its only interesting claim came from its title. the police beat algorithm is such a promising topic, and the essay on it provided helpful historical context to its development, but not much beyond that like how it became today's surveillance state. the piece i was most looking forward to, "Encoding Gender", was interesting but suffered from the same problem of primitivity. i am not one to complain about brevity—"Typically chooses fast-paced books that are <300 pages long," as storygraph describes me—but it feels like each essay only scratches the surface of its subject before promptly wrapping up with a big, question mark–shaped bow. the collection's desire to disprove its own title came at the expense of any deeper insight into the issues at hand.
the essays i liked best were "Monte Carlo Algorithms" for the collection's most technical detail, on code whose applications are everywhere; and "The First Email" for the fascinating background i somehow never knew to this ubiquitous technology. if you want an in-depth look at a historical example of the confluence of computing, medicine, conceit, corporate greed, and accountability or the lack thereof, i recommend this very good video, "History's Worst Software Error" by Kyle Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap0orGCiou8
the essay about tracking pixels was so rudimentary that its only interesting claim came from its title. the police beat algorithm is such a promising topic, and the essay on it provided helpful historical context to its development, but not much beyond that like how it became today's surveillance state. the piece i was most looking forward to, "Encoding Gender", was interesting but suffered from the same problem of primitivity. i am not one to complain about brevity—"Typically chooses fast-paced books that are <300 pages long," as storygraph describes me—but it feels like each essay only scratches the surface of its subject before promptly wrapping up with a big, question mark–shaped bow. the collection's desire to disprove its own title came at the expense of any deeper insight into the issues at hand.
the essays i liked best were "Monte Carlo Algorithms" for the collection's most technical detail, on code whose applications are everywhere; and "The First Email" for the fascinating background i somehow never knew to this ubiquitous technology. if you want an in-depth look at a historical example of the confluence of computing, medicine, conceit, corporate greed, and accountability or the lack thereof, i recommend this very good video, "History's Worst Software Error" by Kyle Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap0orGCiou8
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Outing