Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
Fabulously written, yet an unpretentious book about how the arising big data research may enable us to understand the human world better than ever before.
"The telescope showed us there is more to the night sky than we think we see. And new, digital data now shows us there is more to human society than we think we see. It may be our era's microscope or telescope-making possible important, even revolutionary insights." p. 16
"Frequently, the value of Big Data is not its size; it's that it can offer you new kinds of information to study-information that had never previously been collected." p. 59
"In fact, the liberal bias is well calibrated to what newspaper readers want. Newspaper readership, on average, tilts a bit left. (They have data on that.) And newspapers, on average, tilt a bit left to give their readers the viewpoints they demand. There is no grand conspiracy. There is just capitalism." p. 97
"Facebook exposes us to weak social connections-the high school acquaintance, the crazy third cousin, the friend of the friend of the friend you sort of, kind of, maybe know. These are people you might never go bowling with or to barbecue with. You might not invite them over to a dinner party. But you do Facebook friend them. And you do see their links to articles with views you might have never otherwise considered." p. 144
"Between the key ages of fourteen and twenty-four, numerous Americans will form their views based on the popularity of the current president. A popular Republican or unpopular Democrat will influence many young adults to become Republicans." p. 170
"One more important point that becomes clear when we zoom in: the world is complicated. Actions we take today can have distant effects, most of them unintended. Ideas spread-sometimes slowly; other times exponentially, like viruses. People respond in unpredictable ways to incentives." p. 197
"There were stories hidden in the data that were ready to be told and this has been proven right over and over again." p. 280