Martin W Smith

Today I finished the book I mentioned in my last post Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. I thought as a change from my normal posts I’d do things a little differently and dedicate this entire post to this wonderful book.

I’m no good at reviewing things and rarely do I feel the need to, but today I felt like I wanted to. This isn’t a review, just a few of my thoughts after finishing the book. I probably won’t be able to do the book justice. It really was a fascinating read, as I’ve said before I’m quite a slow reader, but I finished the nearly 30 pages in under 5 days, which must be some kind of record for me. Every spare minute I could find I spent reading.

The subtitle of the book is What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. It’s about “Big Data” and how although many people will lie on a survey, most people will tell their search engines the honest truth. Since the invention of the internet and search engines there is now a vast amount of data out there that can be used to infer a great deal about the human condition. Even though the book is mostly about findings in the United States, most of the content is still applicable not only to the UK, but all over the world. It’s written with good humour and the studies presented by the author are compelling, from sexual and political prefrences to how the sports team you support as an adult is detemined by the team that won a big event when they were 14. I think anyone will find this interesting even if you aren’t interested in Data Science.

I already have an interest in Data Science and I am currently doing various courses to learn the subject better. This book has made me want to learn it even more. On the other hand it also makes me feel as dumb as a brick. I’ve always thought I was fairly intelligent, but after reading this and about the various people involved in the studies mentioned in the book. I’m not sure I have the mental facilities to make the kind of connections these guys do. They are superhuman to me. I may be too old now to make the career change into Data Science, but I’m going to try.

I told you I’m not much of a reviewer, but honestly get hold of the book and give it a read, I’m sure you will enjoy it.