EVERYBODY LIES: BIG DATA, NEW DATA, AND WHAT THE INTERNET CAN TELL US ABOUT WHO WE REALLY ARE By Seth Stephens-Davidowitz


Seth Stephens-Davidowitz studies millions of GOOGLE searches to come up with his conclusions. For example, Stephens-Davidowitz challenges the prediction that Kinsey made in the 1950s that 10% of the population were homosexuals. Based on GOOGLE searches, the estimate is closer to 5%. Stephens-Davidowitz shows why polling for the 2016 Presidential Election was off by about 2% and undercounting Trump supporters. The chapter on sex is an eye-opener. If you’re interested in what GOOGLE searches tell us about what people are really concerned about, Everybody Lies answers those questions. Brilliant book! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword Steven Pinker ix
Introduction: The Outlines of a Revolution 1
Part I Data, Big and Small
1 Your Faulty Gut 25
Part II The Powers of Big Data
2 Was Freud Right? 45
3 Data Reimagined 55
Bodies as Data 62
Words as Data 74
Pictures as Data 97
4 Digital Truth Serum 105
The Truth About Sex 112
The Truth About Hate and Prejudice 128
The Truth About the Internet 140
The Truth About Child Abuse and Abortion 145
The Truth About Your Facebook Friends 150
The Truth About Your Customers 153
Can We Handle the Truth? 158
5 Zooming In 165
What’s Really Going On in Our Counties, Cities, and Towns? 172
How We Fill Our Minutes and Hours 190
Our Doppelgangers 197
Data Stories 205
6 All the World’s a Lab 207
The ABCs of A/B Testing 209
Nature’s Cruel-but Enlightening-Experiments 221
Part III Big Data: Handle with Care
7 Big Data, Big Schmata? What It Cannot Do 243
The Curse of Dimensionality 246
The Overemphasis on What Is Measurable 252
8 Mo Data, Mo Problems? What We Shouldn’t Do 257
The Danger of Empowered Corporations 257
The Danger of Empowered Governments 266
Conclusion: How Many People Finish Books? 271
Acknowledgments 285
Notes 289
Index 319

10 thoughts on “EVERYBODY LIES: BIG DATA, NEW DATA, AND WHAT THE INTERNET CAN TELL US ABOUT WHO WE REALLY ARE By Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

  1. Jeff Meyerson

    Sounds great. And it is particularly relevant these days, no doubt.

    Also, people are (sadly) often stupid and easily led. If you can’t think and reason for yourself, you too may be a Trump voter!

    Reply

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