Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

I've read quite a lot of pop-sci books. One of my favourites: "Godel-Escher-Bach" really made me think hard about life and how things are interconnected. "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" did the same. I think that a science book, written for the general populate which makes you genuinely stop and think is one that has fulfilled its purpose. When it comes to "pop-sci" computer science books, I think a lot of them are just banal listings of cool things people did: Turing, Babbage, IBM, etc etc. Yeah, computers are awesome, and a lot of very clever people did very clever things with them. Some AI or game theory books (like Rock Paper Scissors) are able to focus in on a few small areas and unravel them a little. However this book has absolutely opened my eyes. Like G,E,B's "eternal golden braid", the cover of the book says it all: Everything's interconnected. There are some problems which humans have been grappling with for millennia, along with some new ones which have only arisen since the advent of the motorcar, or the washing machine. Many of these problems have good, bad, ugly and downright crazy solutions. Once you mix in "love", "anger", "personal gain", "altruism" and all the other factors, you're led into a world of fuzzy logic, bizarre solutions, and some very very interesting stories. All of these stories, along with their underlying problems and paradoxes are brilliantly explained, wrapped together in a very logical, clear order. There's nothing suffixed with "discussed later in this book", everything is explained in the right order to lead from the simplest problems (those on a microscopic scale), to the hardest macroscopic ones (global economies and political policy). Amongst all these stories and problem domains, the author boils the problem down into a particular game theoretic procedure, or simply explains how it's a twist on a simpler problem. As the book progresses, the braids get more and more tightly bound, showing how people use mutli-level decision trees. The discussion of how poker players "psych" each other out, and can trick each other into a variety of "level games" is truly inspiring. It solves the problem I always had with poker: "it's just a game of chance, right?". This explains that, no, actually, there's a huge amount of psychology going on. It rounds it out by giving the one single most stark example of how simple psychology won a poker champion almost half a million dollars, leaving you agape at the simplicity and complexity all rolled into one. I have to say, I was engrossed in this book. I think everyone should read it, because it gives practical, simple advice on how to break out of "symmetrical" problems, and shows how you can get one-up on the other people by employing some simple strategies. Absolutely fantastic book.

I wasn't completely sold on this book before I bought it, but took the gamble as it is a little different to what i'm used to. I'm technically proficient, but didn't have any knowledge of computer science before picking up this book - and that doesn't hurt you in the slightest, as its designed with the assumption that you know nothing. From a review on Amazon US, i got the impression before I purchased that this was a scientific self-help book rooted in mathematics - which has definitely coloured my impression. It totals just over 250 pages, but took me a little longer than I anticipated to finish (between 8-10 hours) because I was making some notes and trying to get as much comprehension out of my first read through. There are 11 chapters in total which you can see if you 'peek' into the book in this listing. In my honest opinion, I found the first half of this book - up to the end of chapter 6 - much better than the second half. From the first half, I came away with concrete ideas which drew from computer science and could help in daily life in obvious ways. For instance, caching your files using the Last Recently Used (LRU) strategy or accepting messiness in circumstances where the cost of organization outweighs the benefit gained when searching. In turn, this made the first half A LOT more personally relevant and interesting than the second half. The second half is still well-written, but tends to (apart from the 'Relaxation' chapter) go into topics which are, while interesting, not going to obviously help me change my life in any meaningful way. It's still well written, but I couldn't draw any immediate implications of what I was reading and learning in the later chapters, it seemed far more abstract and distant. I have quite a large reading list to move through and I was very tempted to put this book down once I passed the 'Relaxation' chapter, as I didn't feel like I was getting what I wanted out of the book by this stage. I saw it out to the bitter end and still enjoyed it, but felt it was missing some punch at the end. I would still recommend this if you: 1) want to understand 'something' about computer science, or 2) are looking for interesting strategies to incorporate into your life. However, I would add that this isn't explicitly a self-help book - although it can be leveraged to that purpose - so don't be surprised if it isn't laying out life-changing ideas to you like other popular volumes.

This was a superb attempt to use the methods and working practices of computer scientists, and some less technical algorithms too, in everyday situations. As it states, ‘Algorithms to Live By’. I’m generally not a fan of the sort of smart-thinking books which aggregate and cherry-pick research and force it through one unhelpful paradigm. They usually have an awful subtitle, and choose poor quality research to back up their points. They all end up saying the same thing, largely. This book is not one of those. It explained things in a much easier and accessible way than I have ever seen them explained, such as caching, distributions and Bayesian probability. And it also introduced the reader to a number of ways computer scientists think and terms and framings that they use in everyday work that applies in real life. This book could apply to a great many situations for the reader, from work problems to everyday life - like selling a house - and is simple, yet technical. The authors are good at communicating their thoughts, even if they do make one or two charitable assertions about some aspects that relate to what they are covering. There is good life advice, good computer science advice, and a short primer on some of the more basic tenets of computer science, statistics and probability, and some analysis too. Fantastic stuff.

This is not a easy read. I completed the book and it took me some mental calisthenics to do so, but once you cross the bridge, you feel, the "epiphany". The topic are varied and covers many maths and computer science related problems but they are actually real world issues. Topics like prisoners dilemma and Game theory are actually applied during difficult negotiations. Vickey auction is especially useful then the bidders don't have a complete understanding of underling cost involved in running the business aka cost of capital for eg the cost of exploring an oil field or the cost of building a telecom network (often leading to under bidding). Win lose switch strategy, may be a good option when releasing a under trail drug which save lives but is not fully tested(case in the book was ECMO saving lives of children). Randomness, caching memory, overfitting are all discussed. My favourite chapter was ofcourse, Bayesian probability. Did you know the Bayes never published what would become his most famous accomplishment; his notes were edited and published posthumously by Richard Price. Furthermore it was de Laplace who came up with formula for probability ( r + 1 ) / ( n + 2 ). I sometimes wonder the life of a statistician where one sees probabilities and optimizations everywhere. In fact there is mention of how Tom leaves his socks lying near the bed to optimize caching, only to be admonished by his wife, for making a mess. All in all its a fantastic read, it will take some time to digest the material but once you internalize the concept your world view will change for ever. Happy reading

Opened my mind up to solve issues from my life with an analytical approach

If you are interested in something about algorithms, you should read this book. I read it both in English and in Japanese. My impression from the book is different in original and translation. Japanese translation is excellent, but if you want to have some insight from this book, English version is better for the Japanese. But you can check your English understanding, Japanese version is very helpful. I bought this book to increase my understanding how to program python. Because I want to brash up my knowledge of computer and algorithms. However, this book is very useful for brash up my life itself.

The book is awesome and a must read. The packaging is not that great, but it’s acceptable.

"Algorithms to live by" è un libro davvero illuminante che ci mostra come la scienza informatica può aiutarci a prendere decisioni migliori nella vita quotidiana. Gli autori, Brian Christian e Tom Griffiths, applicano i principi dell'informatica e dell'ottimizzazione al mondo reale, aiutandoci a risolvere problemi come la gestione del tempo, la scelta della casa ideale, la decisione di lasciare o meno un lavoro e molto altro ancora. La scrittura è chiara e accessibile, e gli esempi sono divertenti ed istruttivi. Se sei interessato ad applicare la logica delle scienze informatiche alla vita quotidiana, questo libro è una lettura obbligatoria. Lo consiglio vivamente a chiunque abbia una mente curiosa e aperta.