Nonfiction

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

  • Downloads：4265
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-10-10 05:52:45
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
  • ISBN：0062497499
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Foreword by Steven Pinker

Blending the informed analysis of The Signal and the Noise with the instructive iconoclasm of Think Like a Freak， a fascinating， illuminating， and witty look at what the vast amounts of information now instantly available to us reveals about ourselves and our world—provided we ask the right questions。

By the end of an average day in the early twenty-first century， human beings searching the internet will amass eight trillion gigabytes of data。 This staggering amount of information—unprecedented in history—can tell us a great deal about who we are—the fears， desires， and behaviors that drive us， and the conscious and unconscious decisions we make。 From the profound to the mundane， we can gain astonishing knowledge about the human psyche that less than twenty years ago， seemed unfathomable。

Everybody Lies offers fascinating， surprising， and sometimes laugh-out-loud insights into everything from economics to ethics to sports to race to sex， gender and more， all drawn from the world of big data。 What percentage of white voters didn’t vote for Barack Obama because he’s black？ Does where you go to school effect how successful you are in life？ Do parents secretly favor boy children over girls？ Do violent films affect the crime rate？ Can you beat the stock market？ How regularly do we lie about our sex lives and who’s more self-conscious about sex， men or women？

Investigating these questions and a host of others， Seth Stephens-Davidowitz offers revelations that can help us understand ourselves and our lives better。 Drawing on studies and experiments on how we really live and think， he demonstrates in fascinating and often funny ways the extent to which all the world is indeed a lab。 With conclusions ranging from strange-but-true to thought-provoking to disturbing， he explores the power of this digital truth serum and its deeper potential—revealing biases deeply embedded within us， information we can use to change our culture， and the questions we’re afraid to ask that might be essential to our health—both emotional and physical。 All of us are touched by big data everyday， and its influence is multiplying。 Everybody Lies challenges us to think differently about how we see it and the world。

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Reviews

george ，

The most memorable idea I have from this book is that we can turn softer sciences like human behavior and sociology into harder sciences with mass data is an interesting experiment。

Wreet Sarker ，

"The power in Google data is that people tell the giant search engine things they might not tell anyone else。"I found this book pretty fascinating。 If you are into Big Data and interested in data science， you would find this book fascinating too。 "The power in Google data is that people tell the giant search engine things they might not tell anyone else。"I found this book pretty fascinating。 If you are into Big Data and interested in data science， you would find this book fascinating too。 。。。more

Jovana ，

This book should be required reading。 I wish I could give it 6 stars。 Easy to read and full of incredibly interesting data science topics， ideas， and plans for pushing the field forward。

Armando Ferreira ，

Not the right title （at least that）As I always say， writing a book is not an easy task and， in this case， I recognize the author made a significant effort to provide enough details within the constrains established for a book to be commercial and sellable。However， I find this book profoundly misleading。 The fact that the author doesn’t feel obligated to follow any predefined laws or hypotheses means that he can slice and dice the data any way he wants and basically obtain any result。 The lack of Not the right title （at least that）As I always say， writing a book is not an easy task and， in this case， I recognize the author made a significant effort to provide enough details within the constrains established for a book to be commercial and sellable。However， I find this book profoundly misleading。 The fact that the author doesn’t feel obligated to follow any predefined laws or hypotheses means that he can slice and dice the data any way he wants and basically obtain any result。 The lack of scientific rigor on many of the proposed examples is appalling and the bias on the “analysis” of results is politicized。 Probably the author sees himself as a data analyst or data free-spirit person but not a data scientist， as the science is at least apparently absent from his work。Thus， even though I find the book readable and interesting （and I agree， the topic is valid and important） I am disappointed with the result。And， by the way， I did read the whole book。 Maybe I didn’t add more notes in the conclusion because I find that the building blocks of the main ideas， if any， have already been noted before。 。。。more

Julia Khavich ，

biased conclusions， no logic and connection between facts and summary

Ash ，

Engaging read but some of the conclusions are overblown and the methodology questionable

Ames ，

one of the bouncers at the club i work at lent me this book to try to convince me that non fiction is better then fictioni am not convinced。

Wai Hung ，

I wonder whether there are enough research and proofs to support the data results addressed in the book。 However， it is still a book worth to read， at least it gets you thinking how do we understand human truth desires and action through big data。

Jordan ，

This was very interesting and entertaining。 It was also horrifying and depressing。 We are all fucked。

Mohammad ，

use in project

Eliana ，

Just excellent。 You captured my interest and attention till the very end。 Never thought a book on data science could be so catchy。 Seth， the author， is an excellent storyteller。

Megan Schnell ，

DNF - only could get an hour or so through the book without being disgusted by the language the author uses。

Sylvia Mack ，

I had to read this book for one of my college classes but I really wish I didn’t。 We didn’t have to read the whole book but I decided to go ahead and read everything so I knew what I was talking about when I gave a bad review。I could’ve kept these opinions to myself， yes， but I feel so strongly that this was one of the most frustrating books I’ve read this year so I had to leave a legitimate review。 I’ll try and keep it as short as I can though。To preface I may be biased because I also had to wa I had to read this book for one of my college classes but I really wish I didn’t。 We didn’t have to read the whole book but I decided to go ahead and read everything so I knew what I was talking about when I gave a bad review。I could’ve kept these opinions to myself， yes， but I feel so strongly that this was one of the most frustrating books I’ve read this year so I had to leave a legitimate review。 I’ll try and keep it as short as I can though。To preface I may be biased because I also had to watch one of his interviews and as a communications major I was analyzing his public speaking skills （which were not great） but I hoped his writing would be better （it was not）。Davidowitz makes several claims about data and what it can teach us and while I agree that “big data” can bring us new insights into the human psyche he fails to acknowledge several sociological concepts throughout the book and his examples。 Take his discussion on geographic location and better life circumstances in chapter 5: he discusses that areas with lower crime and more religious people tend to have greater chances of social mobility than areas with more black children。 He just presents these ideas in terms of data and statistics while failing to mention the systemic obstacles that prevent people from social mobility in the United States。 Further along this chapter he then makes claims on how poor people living near rich people tend to live longer lives…which yes， because if they live near rich people they at least have more access to the healthy standards and resources that the rich people have。 These are just the two examples I chose in the book but throughout the entire book he consistently just makes claims on data yet refuses to acknowledge the underlying beliefs and systems which make the data what it is。Now this take may be a personal preference but many of his jokes and attempts of “being relatable” were distasteful and ignorant。 Oh but wait！ He tackles this with footnotes saying why his joke wasn’t offensive in the name of data-so helpful。 No， I’m just kidding。 Instead of having to explain your joke and “why it wasn’t offensive” to your audience maybe you just aren’t funny， or maybe you should just not include that joke。 From talking about PornHub searches to women’s insecurities to secretly gay men， he tries to push the boundaries and make data “more exciting” by being relatable and getting into personal lives。 Instead it comes off as him trying too hard to relate to an audience and have them push back due to the awkwardness of his introductions of porn searches and dating fouls。 To conclude， I agree where his ex-girlfriend said in a quote that he is more robot than human。 Although this book did have insights on how big data and Google were shaping our lives， I could’ve learned that elsewhere and from an author who doesn’t make poor jokes and can’t relate to his audience。 There are some good takeaways， but they’re hidden pretty deep throughout the book so I would suggest to just Google it if you want to know more （I mean the whole book is about Google essentially anyways）。 。。。more

Taylor Trent ，

Heavily inspired by freakonomics， but more current for the times。 Steven Levitt didn’t have the trove of google data that Seth Stephens-Daviowitz has at the writing of this book。 Really makes the case for how the social sciences are capable of becoming “hard” sciences with the capabilities demonstrated in the book for running trials。

Frank Lindt ，

A book that provides you with a lot of ‘Ah， that’s interesting’ content。 What it lacks in relevance it makes up for in entertainment and insight into the human psyche。

Dustin ，

This was a pretty enjoyable read。 I know a lot of people （even the author） draw parallels to "Freakonomics" but I found this one a far better book and most of his conclusions way more grounded and realistic than anything in any one of those books。 This was a pretty enjoyable read。 I know a lot of people （even the author） draw parallels to "Freakonomics" but I found this one a far better book and most of his conclusions way more grounded and realistic than anything in any one of those books。 。。。more

hungcq ，

more like What the internet can tell us about the author: a compiler of trash information

Michael ，

I have no issues with the hypothesis of the author and believe his work （well presented in the text） is an excellent way to study society， much better than surveys for example。 A lot of the examples chosen， however， are sophomoric， and I am skeptical of some of the conclusions。 Individually people are complicated and their worldviews are nuanced more than A/B would indicate， but here those choices are spoken as indisputable facts。 Still， the work itself redeems the book。 Maybe he'd write a bette I have no issues with the hypothesis of the author and believe his work （well presented in the text） is an excellent way to study society， much better than surveys for example。 A lot of the examples chosen， however， are sophomoric， and I am skeptical of some of the conclusions。 Individually people are complicated and their worldviews are nuanced more than A/B would indicate， but here those choices are spoken as indisputable facts。 Still， the work itself redeems the book。 Maybe he'd write a better one after living a little longer。 。。。more

Chris Branch ，

I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of this book before coming across it at a used book sale recently， since it came out in 2017 and covers human behavior topics in which I’m interested， with a unique angle。I learned numerous things from the book， including the story about predicting horse race success based on the size of internal organs， and the fact that Floridians apparently stock up on strawberry Pop Tarts before hurricanes。 Stephens-Davidowitz is a clear and engaging writer， in the tradition of S I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of this book before coming across it at a used book sale recently， since it came out in 2017 and covers human behavior topics in which I’m interested， with a unique angle。I learned numerous things from the book， including the story about predicting horse race success based on the size of internal organs， and the fact that Floridians apparently stock up on strawberry Pop Tarts before hurricanes。 Stephens-Davidowitz is a clear and engaging writer， in the tradition of Steven Pinker， who wrote the foreword to this book， but with a slightly quirkier tone。 The big picture view that he conveys about the use of not only large quantities of data but innovative sources of data is truly fascinating。On the other hand， some questions remain in my mind: The author presents valid evidence that the data from Google searches really does correspond to patterns in the world。 But why exactly do people search for things that are not even searchable questions such as “I hate cold weather” （p。 112）？ Maybe a study should be done to explain why people don’t at least make an effort to phrase it in the form of a question？ I understand that the data doesn’t lie， but maybe it’s only capturing a strange subset of the behavior， or maybe peoples’ habits will change over time。 Also， there’s an emphasis on searches for offensive or threatening terms， and also on sexual topics， mainly because this seems to be what “Everybody Lies” most about。 But if that’s the case， can we really trust the data from people who are logged in to PornHub with presumably authentic accounts， having accurately provided their gender and other personal info？ Or are more people just finding videos to watch for free？ Then there’s the study where teachers were paid for attendance that concluded that “The results were remarkable。” （p。 209）。 I’m not sure it’s so remarkable that people do better work if you pay them more。The commentary on companies’ excessive use of A/B testing to basically exploit their target audience is spot on， and although the author allows that big data also benefits consumers in some cases， the power to abuse it is clearly in the hands of those who can pay for it。Overall， I enjoyed the book; I’d say it was 3 to 4 star， and I’ll round up for polished execution。 。。。more

Ahmed Sayed ，

موضوع الكتاب في الوافع مهم و الجيد ولكن تم ذكر الكثير نت التفاصيل المملة مما يؤدي في بعض الاحيان للحياد عن الموضوع

Raul Mazilu ，

I enjoyed discovering 1/ the datasets he used and 2/ the findings from studies he cites。 The main takeaway is that internet data （search data， most notably） can be used to learn about the preferences， thoughts and desires of groups of people with more accuracy than via traditional studies or questionnaires。If you're in the data science field， some ideas won't be new to you （correlation vs causation， omitted variable bias， sampling issues）。 I enjoyed discovering 1/ the datasets he used and 2/ the findings from studies he cites。 The main takeaway is that internet data （search data， most notably） can be used to learn about the preferences， thoughts and desires of groups of people with more accuracy than via traditional studies or questionnaires。If you're in the data science field， some ideas won't be new to you （correlation vs causation， omitted variable bias， sampling issues）。 。。。more

Erfan Mirzaee ，

یه مشت تحلیل و اطلاعات از جامعه ی آمریکا که برای من نه جذاب بود نه مفید، شاید خوندن این کتاب به درد متخصصان آمار و داده بخوره

Maria Boghiu ，

Downvoting for the relentless mansplaning and self-satisfied self-promotion。 Yes， Seth， we understand you think big data is a big deal and you’re somehow a pioneer for understanding that it’s better to draw conclusions from counting lots of things instead of counting fewer things， but we don’t need you to labour that point for half of every chapter， in between anecdotes of how you met very important people with whom you had “the most exhilarating” intellectual banters of your life。 I buy books t Downvoting for the relentless mansplaning and self-satisfied self-promotion。 Yes， Seth， we understand you think big data is a big deal and you’re somehow a pioneer for understanding that it’s better to draw conclusions from counting lots of things instead of counting fewer things， but we don’t need you to labour that point for half of every chapter， in between anecdotes of how you met very important people with whom you had “the most exhilarating” intellectual banters of your life。 I buy books to be educated， not to watch an author try to make himself appear funny， interesting and well-connected。 Imagine if Daniel Kahneman’s tone of voice had been not “wow， take a look at these fascinating facts I found” but “look， I wouldn’t expect you to fully be able to appreciate this， some of the stuff I’m about to talk about is pretty sophisticated， but let me do my best to simplify this to something you can understand: behavioural economics is going to change the social sciences forever and anyone who doesn’t think so is an idiot and by the way how cool is it that I got to go up on that stage and be given the Nobel prize。 THE。 NOBEL。 PRIZE。 Wow！” 。。。more

Mahdieh ，

نظر من رو خود نویسنده آخر کتاب گفت تو صفحه آخر کتاب نویسنده اعتراف می‌کنه که هرچقدر رو نثرش کار بکنه و کتاب خوبی بنویسه داده ها نشون میدن که تعداد کمی آدم تا آخر این کتاب رو میخونناین کتاب و حرفی که میخواد بزنه تو پنجاه صفحه اولش زده میشه و اینو خود نویسنده اعتراف می‌کنه بعد ازون فقط علاقه است که ممکنه ادامه بدین کتاب رو نتیجه گیری اصلی رو هم رو جلد کتاب نوشته «همه دروغ میگویند»

Yasemin Sürreya ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Amazing book for people interested in Big Data and where science is heading。 Great real life examples and I’m now even more hooked on getting a job in data analysis than before！

Yahya Alshukri ，

Overwhelming read。 It some how describes our darkest desires and fears。 It challenges the reader by putting in words everything you don't want the world to see about yourself。I guess one of the main challenges in this century is going to be trying to understand the data and apply the findings in ways that serves human interests。 However， we need to question the interest and the end goal。 Overwhelming read。 It some how describes our darkest desires and fears。 It challenges the reader by putting in words everything you don't want the world to see about yourself。I guess one of the main challenges in this century is going to be trying to understand the data and apply the findings in ways that serves human interests。 However， we need to question the interest and the end goal。 。。。more

Crystal ，

This book was full of stats that provided insight on how people actually behave vs what "popular opinion" is known to be。 It is definitely an eye-opener。 It more technical than I expected which was a delightful surprise。 Its a really cool read for those of is interested in data science。 It was a good "fun fact" type of read。 This book was full of stats that provided insight on how people actually behave vs what "popular opinion" is known to be。 It is definitely an eye-opener。 It more technical than I expected which was a delightful surprise。 Its a really cool read for those of is interested in data science。 It was a good "fun fact" type of read。 。。。more

Caroline ，

I like this book for its explanations about the potential of big data and new data。 It does seem like the author comes to flimsy conclusions for some studies， but the overall picture made this a decent read for me。

Orland Foster ，

Very interesting。 The ending was superb！

Ellen ，

Started and didn’t finish。 This book feels targeted to non-data scientists。 It has a lot of shock value fun facts， but after even a chapter it doesn’t feel like a life value-add。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0