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Algorithms to Live By  By  cover art

Algorithms to Live By

By: Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
Narrated by: Brian Christian
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2016 Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

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What listeners say about Algorithms to Live By

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen, just don't expect tips!

Spoiler: the conclusion of many chapters is that your intuition is better than any current algorithm. Therefore, I wouldn't buy this book for tips. If you're smart, your intuition is already better, and if you're stupid, you're not going to understand the concepts anyway. However, I enjoyed the book as a fascinating exploration into how the mind works optimally, and liked putting words to the things I’m already just doing.

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229 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Beware non-techies

I have a hard time grasping computer science, statistics and the like. So, I did not follow the narrator's explanations very well. But I did like hearing the results of his stories. I listened to the whole book even though I probably only understood 20% of it. The narrator had a nice voice and that made it easy for me to keep listening.

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209 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How do you prioritize when everything is top priority? I have an answer now.

Have you ever had the inevitable interview question about how you prioritize so many different things when everything needs to be done right now?
I am a “non traditional” med student with a background in business and real estate. I’ve been on my fair share of interviews and am currently rotating through clinical interviews. I have heard at least some version of this exact question in every interview I’ve had in both medicine and the business world. My most recent interviewer said they had never heard someone put so much thought into an answer after I decided to answer given the theorems described in the chapter on prioritizing. 😂

I have gained a much better understanding of many different theorems used from computer algorithms to economics and how they can be used to optimize my own decisions. It was an enlightening read.

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200 people found this helpful

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  • GH
  • 05-01-16

Absolute Must Listen

If you are into computers, this book is a must, and if you are not, it is still very interesting. You get to hear about numerous different algorithms that affect our daily lives in a unique and interesting narrative. This book is written by authorities. One of the authors is an accomplished Professor and the other an extremely accomplished author.

This book seeks to shed light on the various algorithms that shape our lives that computer science has in many cases solved. This books does not have equations or heavy theory so lay-listeners are safe, but there is enough meat on the bone for us folks in the biz something to chew on. Give it a listen.

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143 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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I will Re-Read this one!

What made the experience of listening to Algorithms to Live By the most enjoyable?

I Don't normally write reviews on books and movies - but this one I started promoting to fellow workers before I was 1/2 way through it. It was a really interesting way to look at everyday life tasks and the methods used for best results based in mathematical and computer Algorithm theorems (but explaining in everyday non-mathematical ways). I will have to read again myself.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I think taking the book in small portions (a chapter at a time - listening to it a couple times even if you miss following a portion). Allow the material to soak in and measure it against your everyday activities to best decide which of the Algorithms to best apply to your (or I found in some cases explained what I was already doing).

Any additional comments?

On a Side note if you are like me and deal with computers / numbers / and other such detail oriented thinking you probably are aware of some or many of the algorithms mentioned, but it was interesting to see them applied to everyday activities.

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137 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • M
  • 10-10-16

Not Just Computer Science

This fascinating and entertaining book discusses several famous decision problems that I would not necessarily call computer science problems: “The Secretary Problem” (optimal stopping), “The Multi-Armed Bandit Problem”, “Bayes’s Lottery/Laplace’s Sunrise Problem”, "The Prisoner's Dilemma". and “The Traveling Salesman Problem". It also discusses merge-sort, caching, and the Least-Recently-Used (LRU) principle, which do seem more like computer science. This may sound dry, but it isn't! The authors sprinkle in anecdotes, short biographical sketches, and quotations that keep things fresh and interesting. I also own the Kindle edition, which has some useful figures, tables, and notes, but this works fine as an audiobook. Any equations are relegated to the notes. One of the authors, Brian Christian, reads it well.

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117 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Accessible and engaging

I have an engineering background, but little formal computer science training. The text felt approachable for a general audience and the authors weave in some good stories. I was familiar with the topics on probability, randomness and optimization, yet found valuable new insights. Recommended to anyone with an interest in computing, algorithms and decision making.

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104 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Algorithm: The set of steps to accomplish a task

A recipe is an algorithm used in cooking. Remember the 2005 - 2010 CBS TV program NUMB3RS where math professor Charlie Epps solved all of the FBI crime issues for his FBI agent brother Don using math algorithms? Charlie had algorithms for everything. My problem with that program was that they never defined the word algorithm resulting in many viewers believing it was hocus pocus rather than the solid science it really is . This book does a better job of definition as it applies to computers then provides numerous real world helpful examples. It is a marvelous book! But I down rate it to 4 stars because (1) the authors make several errors which they say will be corrected in the paperback and (2) they use several terms without definition such as "factorial" and "polynomial" which are not part of the vocabulary of many potential listeners.

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96 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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diamonds among the brickwork

I persevered to the end and I'm glad that I did. This is definitely a book for people who understand computers and math, which is not my strong suit. However, what i could understand was very interesting and gave me many points to think about regarding human interactions.

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95 people found this helpful

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Loved this book!

The authors take us on an easy-to-understand grand tour of the science of computer algorithms — stopping, sorting, caching, predicting, game theory, and much more — and then do a marvelous job of explaining The application of these algorithms to the most mundane problems of everyday human experience — parking, dating, remembering, playing poker, etc. A tour de force! I enjoyed it greatly, and recommended it to several friends.

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87 people found this helpful