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Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
Audiobook11 hours

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

A fascinating exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of new activities and familiar favorites is the most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they are not: computers, too, face the same constraints, so computer scientists have been grappling with their version of such problems for decades. And the solutions they've found have much to teach us.

In a dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, acclaimed author Brian Christian (who holds degrees in computer science, philosophy, and poetry, and works at the intersection of all three) and Tom Griffiths (a UC Berkeley professor of cognitive science and psychology) show how the simple, precise algorithms used by computers can also untangle very human questions. They explain how to have better hunches and when to leave things to chance, how to deal with overwhelming choices and how best to connect with others. From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to understanding the workings of human memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 19, 2016
ISBN9781480560352
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
Author

Brian Christian

Brian Christian is the author of The Most Human Human, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, New York Times editors’ choice, and a New Yorker favorite book of the year. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The Paris Review, as well as in scientific journals such as Cognitive Science, and has been translated into eleven languages. He lives in San Francisco.

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Reviews for Algorithms to Live By

Rating: 4.373955484679666 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

718 ratings54 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Many decisions we take everyday are similar to how computer science solves problems. It's fascinating.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A must-listen audio book for anyone who is acquainted with basic computer science algorithms and most frequently faced issues by people in day to day lives. The book draws surprising analogies between the two which makes us rethink about the strategies that we think are the best to deal with certain situations. The book almost convinces you that randomness is not all that bad and could even be the best strategy for some set of problems.

    I would recommend any listener to take this book slowly with regular intervals. That helps you to think over the topics discussed in the book and equips you better for the topics presented ahead. Great listen!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First off, I'm a computer scientist, so a lot of these principles were old hat. However, in many cases I hadn't made the connection to human behavior.The books takes you through a variety of basic computer science theory, then explains how it relates to real life (your own decisions or tasks, sports, games, or life in general). I appreciated having these connections pointed out, but often the chapters got bogged down in example after example. After several pages covering one example, the last thing I needed was yet another example.The book was not a light, enjoyable read. It required effort, concentration and a good deal of willpower to continue. I would have preferred a lighter handling of each section with more takeaways. If you're looking for an entertaining yet helpful trip through the overlap between computer science and your behavior, look elsewhere.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I love the text version of a book, but I'm sorry to report that a text that appeared so witty on paper was read in a very dull way by this narrator. Good for those who fell asleep at lectures I suppose...

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Understandable and engaging book, well structured, and surprisingly engaging writing style and pace. Not deeply involved in compsci, but still understood and was stimulated by the content.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lots of topics, good information on the topics. Adequately compherensive. As a computer scientist, a lot of the topics were already familiar to me, but I still gained new information. I recommend the audiobook.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Quite complex mathematical themes to optimise our lives made comprehensive and hence so very enjoyable and priceless to the listener. The first hearing is a foretaste of this complex subject. I will listen to it a few more times to cover the areas I have missed or needing reinforcements. Perhaps the audio book accompanied by the actual written book will make optimal cerebral assimilation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The idea of this book is awesome. But this could be written in around 150 pages. I think this book is too long for the knowledge it provides.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excelente libro... no solo para las personas del mundo de la computación, sino para cualqueira que tenga interés en la complejidad de los problemas de la vida diaria
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    good book to read it is open your mind, must be read
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Good guide for taking statistics and algorithms accomplishments from programming world to a day to day life. Should be pactical and applicable for most sometime in an unexpected field.
    Worth it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Insightful read on the way to work. Great book. A+
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a great book. However, audio isn't the best way to put it, especially since it can be 20 minutes of story to illustrate 1 generalized algorithm for advice. Since it is audio, it can be harder to find the algorithms again. Therefore, you need to take notes
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book and I don’t even like computers!






  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good book, but not so good audio quality, probably due to conversion at some point.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A good introduction in some of the main algorithms and design principles discovered in software development, which can be applied in general to many situations. However, the book oversimplifies real life scenarios, only to then further point out that these algorithms can actually not be applied because of the many variables in real life (while listening you already think about scenarios, where it does not apply). These situations happen to often and so there is no real aha-moment throughout the book and the take away at the end is that there is no optimal algorithm after all to live by as human intuition and common sense mostly covers all the bases for efficient living already. What remains is a long breathed general intro into algorithms with little to no effect on real life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Though at times hard to follow, the book is well written and informative. Love the real life cases to get their main idea across.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    May be my English level and mental knowledge not enough for this book, but I don’t understand it
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The book starts with simple entered auction to some of Famous computer algorithms and how computer scientists have solved complexity usimg these algorithms. One chapter usually covers one algorithm like Optimal Stopping problem in chapter 1. It then makes a shift to human behavior showing how we can leverage this algorithm to solve our daily life problems. A very readable and a fun book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great summary of computers and algorithms that are used in everyday life
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    As an Engineer/programmer I found this title extraodinary. It portrays the reasoning behind analytical thinking without complicating you with the math.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Bring about some of the challenges we go through. Importantly, best strategy doesn’t always work.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I did not find the information of this book useful.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Really enjoyable. I got a few heuristics from this that I don't think I would have otherwise and validated some of my own experiences against compsci literature. Neat listen.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I used to think there were aspects of human experience that could not be put into words, let alone numbers: emotions, intuitions, etc.

    Nonetheless, the rise of generative AI capable of producing at least the manifestations of these supposedly uniquely human qualities has me convinced that everything is truly a number and by extension, nothing is beyond the realm of computer science.

    This book offers a valuable insight into the computer science at play behind our emotions, instincts, and decisions and provides a unique perspective on the underlying workings of our behavior, our relationships, and our societies.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Good book for people getting into computer science, and simple enough to understand
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Best book for CS , good way for learning how algorithms work and the origin problems they were trying to solve.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent and innovative use of language and juxtaposition of notions
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent presentation of the way computers work and how we can use those algorithms to our daily life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It presents a lots of decicion makeing problems and dilemmas, that people are confronting in real life sitations. Almost every dilemma I already faced it and this made me thinking a lot about it.

    It’s a great book, I will read it at least twice again.