An entertaining, intelligently presented book for the numerate and computer literate.
We are always connected: this is both our blessing and our curse. The problem “is that we’re always buffered,” just a step behind the flood of information flowing toward and past us, all the books and movies and other ingredients of what the authors call “bufferbloat.”
What we need is a good strategy and filter, a greater cybernetic component in the way we think. Therewith the value of this book, seemingly loosely organized but in fact craftily programmed to build from one good idea to the next. The value of being aware of algorithmic thinking—of the thornier details of “human algorithm design,” as Christian (The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive, 2011) and Griffiths (Psychology and Cognitive Science/Univ. of California) put it—is not just better problem solving, but also greater insight into the human mind. And who doesn’t want to know how we tick? The authors lead us into the labyrinth with lessons on such matters as improved search and sort—sorting being “key to the human experience of information,” and thus a good thing to ponder, whether on how to organize your T-shirt drawer or your dissertation. The procrastinators and untidy among us will rejoice in knowing that sometimes a mess is not just OK, but even “the optimal choice,” as long as your search mechanism is good enough. Elsewhere, Christian and Griffiths apply Bayes-ian principles to gambling; if the reader does not emerge from the casino a winner, at least he or she may lose a little less. Most of the examples in this dense but lucid account are emphatically of the real world, but some are more meaningful than others: most people will find it better to know when to fold ’em, for instance, than to understand why Katy Perry can never possibly reply to all her fan mail.
An entertaining, intelligently presented book for the numerate and computer literate.Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-036-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection...
A Dumpster diver–turned-CEO details her rise to success and her business philosophy.
In this memoir/business book, Amoruso, CEO of the Internet clothing store Nasty Gal, offers advice to young women entrepreneurs who seek an alternative path to fame and fortune. Beginning with a lengthy discussion of her suburban childhood and rebellious teen years, the author describes her experiences living hand to mouth, hitchhiking, shoplifting and dropping out of school. Her life turned around when, bored at work one night, she decided to sell a few pieces of vintage clothing on eBay. Fast-forward seven years, and Amoruso was running a $100 million company with 350 employees. While her success is admirable, most of her advice is based on her own limited experiences and includes such hackneyed lines as, “When you accept yourself, it’s surprising how much other people will accept you, too.” At more than 200 pages, the book is overlong, and much of what the author discusses could be summarized in a few tweets. In fact, much of it probably has been: One of the most interesting sections in the book is her description of how she uses social media. Amoruso has a spiritual side, as well, and she describes her belief in “chaos magic” and “sigils,” a kind of wishful-thinking exercise involving abstract words. The book also includes sidebars featuring guest “girlbosses” (bloggers, Internet entrepreneurs) who share equally clichéd suggestions for business success. Some of the guidance Amoruso offers for interviews (don’t dress like you’re going to a nightclub), getting fired (don’t call anyone names) and finding your fashion style (be careful which trends you follow) will be helpful to her readers, including the sage advice, “You’re not special.”
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection or insight.Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16927-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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