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Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions Kindle Edition

by Brian Christian (Author), Griffiths (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 5,729 ratings
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A fascinating exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives.

In this dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, acclaimed author Brian Christian and cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths show us how the simple, precise algorithms used by computers can also untangle very human questions. Modern life is 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? The authors 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 is full of practical takeaways to help you solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind.

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  1. Print length
    369 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Collins
  4. Publication date
    19 April 2016
  5. File size
    2931 KB
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  1. “To try and fail is at least to learn; to fail to try is to suffer the inestimable loss of what might have been.”
    Highlighted by 1,694 Kindle readers
  2. When balancing favorite experiences and new ones, nothing matters as much as the interval over which we plan to enjoy them.
    Highlighted by 1,496 Kindle readers
  3. This is the first and most fundamental insight of sorting theory. Scale hurts.
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Product description

Review

“An entertaining, intelligently presented book.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Practical, everyday advice which will easily provoke an interest in computer science.”—ValueWalk

“All of this information is presented in an interesting, humorous, and thought-provoking way, including quotes that really make you contemplate the meaning of ‘life, the universe, and everything.’”—EE Times

“An important study in how to make better decisions. If you like nerding out about mental models, thinking in stages, game theory, etc., then you’ll probably like [this book].”—Epeak World News,101 Best Audiobooks of All Time 

About the Author

BRIAN CHRISTIAN is the author of The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive, which was a Wall Street Journal bestseller and a New Yorker favoUrite book of the year. Alongside Steven Pinker and Daniel Kahneman, he was shortlisted for the Best Book of Ideas prize in the U.K.

TOM GRIFFITHS is a professor of psychology and cognitive science at UC Berkeley, where he directs the Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B015DLA0LE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Collins (19 April 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2931 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 369 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 5,729 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Tom Griffiths

    Tom Griffiths

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    Tom Griffiths is a professor of psychology and computer science at Princeton, where he directs the Computational Cognitive Science Lab. He has published scientific papers on topics ranging from cognitive psychology to cultural evolution, and has received awards from the National Academy of Sciences, the Sloan Foundation, the American Psychological Association, and the Psychonomic Society, among others. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Brian Christian

    Brian Christian

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Brian Christian is the author of the acclaimed bestsellers "The Most Human Human," a New York Times editors’ choice and a New Yorker favorite book of the year, and "Algorithms to Live By" (with Tom Griffiths), a #1 Audible bestseller, Amazon best science book of the year and MIT Technology Review best book of the year.

    Christian’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Wired, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as peer-reviewed journals such as Cognitive Science. He has been featured on The Daily Show and Radiolab, and has lectured at Google, Facebook, Microsoft, the Santa Fe Institute, and the London School of Economics. His work has won several awards, including publication in Best American Science & Nature Writing, and has been translated into nineteen languages.

    Christian holds degrees in computer science, philosophy, and poetry from Brown University and the University of Washington. A Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, he lives in San Francisco.

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Top reviews from India

Arush Bartaria
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for every rational being
Reviewed in India on 31 July 2021
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I've read the first two chapters so far and it seems that this is precisely what I needed in my life. Rationality backed by math, and no fancy quotes or "life mantras" or "life hacks" obtained by only reading case studies. I've always done the things mentioned in the book intuitively, without even realizing, but making a framework out of it would've been challenging and time consuming (since a lot of math is involved, which the authors have already done for me). Once I complete it, I'll either wait for the sequel of this book, or maybe develop other mental frameworks on my own. This is the best book of the hundreds I've read so far.

Paper quality is okayish.
Print quality is fine.
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Arush Bartaria
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for every rational being
Reviewed in India on 31 July 2021
I've read the first two chapters so far and it seems that this is precisely what I needed in my life. Rationality backed by math, and no fancy quotes or "life mantras" or "life hacks" obtained by only reading case studies. I've always done the things mentioned in the book intuitively, without even realizing, but making a framework out of it would've been challenging and time consuming (since a lot of math is involved, which the authors have already done for me). Once I complete it, I'll either wait for the sequel of this book, or maybe develop other mental frameworks on my own. This is the best book of the hundreds I've read so far.

Paper quality is okayish.
Print quality is fine.
Images in this review
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8 people found this helpful
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anantha murthy
4.0 out of 5 stars Already written down.
Reviewed in India on 26 December 2022
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Very complicated explanation.
One person found this helpful
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Sandy
5.0 out of 5 stars There is so much game here
Reviewed in India on 20 April 2024
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Prisoners dilemma, game theory, Vickey auctions strategy, win lose switch strategy and randomness. If these topics interests you by all means by this book
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Jatin
5.0 out of 5 stars It's in perfect condition
Reviewed in India on 7 April 2024
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Jatin
5.0 out of 5 stars It's in perfect condition
Reviewed in India on 7 April 2024
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Multidisciplinary minddset
Reviewed in India on 5 December 2023
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Authors take the mental models of computer/data science and apply them in real life domains. They break thetheoretical barriers. Excellent book.
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vijay m
4.0 out of 5 stars Tools that be added to your repertoire of 'mental models'
Reviewed in India on 7 December 2016
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Author talks about real life instances where computer algorithms can be applied. It covers topics like optimal stopping, explore/exploit, caching, scheduling, bayes rule, overfitting, randomness, networking, game theory etc. For people who are computer science professionals this would be a easy read, may not be so for others.
The author should have provided a summary of every rule with the underlying assumptions at the end of each chapters. Its easy to misinterpret the rules if one does not understand the underlying assumptions. For example the '37% stopping rule' for the secretary problem is only valid with he underlying condition that 'once the candidate is rejected he can't be recalled'. A simple summary of these rules written as hypothesis at the end of each chapter would have made this book much better.
55 people found this helpful
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Tapasya
5.0 out of 5 stars Computational Kindness
Reviewed in India on 18 April 2023
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Scenarios are well thought out to present real life application of algorithms, constraints we would have and how to adapt. Computational Kindness is wonderful concept presented at the end. It will let us be more compassionate
3 people found this helpful
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Soham Harshe
3.0 out of 5 stars Small fontsize, poor paper quality !
Reviewed in India on 26 January 2023
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Content is Awesome !
The books I received is not the pirated copy. However, the paper is dark and the fontsize is small. I usually read books on Kindle, but thought to purchase this one as paperback and now I am regretting.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Mathematically Challenged?
Reviewed in the United States on 8 April 2024
Verified Purchase
At last a book that relates cognition to computers in an understandable way. Starting with hypothetical real life situations that attracted mathematicians or.computer scientists, the authors address the outcomes from simple to complex to insoluble. The more complex issues reveal the relative values of computers, society, experience, evolution and our own brains! A great way to approach machine learning.
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Moises Rangel Silva
5.0 out of 5 stars Gracias muy buen libro.
Reviewed in Mexico on 30 December 2022
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Buen enfoque de las decisiones humanas con la ciencia de computación.
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Ignas Selvestravičius
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading several times
Reviewed in Germany on 7 January 2024
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Worth reading several times
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swordiron
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in France on 8 August 2023
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Pleins de bonnes idées et de bons concepts à la limite entre la philosophie et l'informatique. Je recommande très fortement.
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Jack Coles
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic for everyday decision-making
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 February 2023
Verified Purchase
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.
4 people found this helpful
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