An exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our
everyday lives to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate
the workings of the human mind.
What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much
messiness should we accept? What balance of the new and familiar is the
most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they
are not. Computers, like us, confront limited space and time, so
computer scientists have been grappling with similar problems for
decades. And the solutions they've found have much to teach us.
In a dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, Brian Christian and Tom
Griffiths show how algorithms developed for computers 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 peering into the future,
Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into
strategies for human living.