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.
