24/01/2024
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
In this excellent book, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths, explain how regular people use algorithms without even realizing it in their day-to-day lives, and how we can learn from computer science to make better decisions in various aspects of our lives, from finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing our inbox to peering into the future. Here are seven, eye-opening and powerful lessons from the book that I hope will intrigue you:
1. Optimal Stopping:
The book teaches us how to decide when to stop looking for something and settle for the best option we have found so far, whether it is a house, a job, or a partner. The book reveals the surprising mathematical formula that can help us maximize our chances of finding the optimal choice, and why it is sometimes better to act sooner rather than later.
2. Explore/Exploit:
The book shows us how to balance the trade-off between exploring new possibilities and exploiting existing ones, whether it is trying a new restaurant, reading a new book, or sticking to our favorites. The book explains the different strategies that can help us optimize our happiness, and why sometimes randomness can be the best policy.
3. Sorting:
The book demonstrates how to sort and organize our data and information, whether it is our email inbox, our closet, or our bookshelf. The book reveals the different algorithms that can help us sort things faster, easier, and more efficiently, and why sometimes messiness can be a virtue.
4. Caching:
The book illustrates how to manage our limited memory and attention, whether it is our computer's RAM, our brain's working memory, or our smartphone's notifications. The book reveals the different algorithms that can help us decide what to keep, what to discard, and what to retrieve, and why sometimes forgetting can be a blessing.
5. Scheduling:
The book instructs us how to schedule our tasks and activities, whether it is our to-do list, our calendar, or our meetings. The book reveals the different algorithms that can help us prioritize, allocate, and execute our work, and why sometimes procrastination can be a good thing.
6.Bayesian Reasoning:
The book guides us how to update our beliefs and opinions, whether it is our political views, our medical diagnosis, or our personal preferences. The book reveals the different algorithms that can help us incorporate new evidence, weigh probabilities, and make predictions, and why sometimes intuition can be misleading.
7. Networking:
The book advises us how to interact with others and cooperate, whether it is our family, our friends, or our colleagues. The book reveals the different algorithms that can help us negotiate, collaborate, and compete, and why sometimes altruism can be the best strategy.
I hope you enjoyed reading my review of this excellent book, and that it piqued your interest and curiosity to dive into the pages of the book. I highly recommend you satisfy your curiosity by picking this book up!
BOOK: https://amzn.to/3vKlEkz
You can get the FREE AUDIOBOOK (With Membership Trial) using the same link above.
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
