Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart
by Ian Ayres
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ian AyresEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-28
ISBN: 0553805401
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart
Book Review: The Way Decisions Are Increasingly Made
Summary: 4 Stars
As we have become a more information-based society, huge databases of information have proliferated. Ian Ayres examines the increasing trend of "Super Crunching", which he defines as using statistics to extract hidden information from large datasets.
Super Crunching has repeatedly been found to make decisions superior to more traditional intuition-based decisions in areas as diverse as baseball, health care, and wine production, and has even been used to guess which purchasing decisions customers will make and how certain Supreme Court justices will vote on given cases. Ayres speculates on what role intuition will have in the future, faced as it is with Super Crunching techniques.
The book is an interesting look at how number-crunching decisions are made by people, companies, and governments in today's world and how these techniques will be increasingly used in the future.
Summary of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart
Why would a casino try and stop you from losing? How can a mathematical formula find your future spouse? Would you know if a statistical analysis blackballed you from a job you wanted?Today, number crunching affects your life in ways you might never imagine. In this lively and groundbreaking new book, economist Ian Ayres shows how today's best and brightest organizations are analyzing massive databases at lightening speed to provide greater insights into human behavior. They are the Super Crunchers. From internet sites like Google and Amazon that know your tastes better than you do, to a physician's diagnosis and your child's education, to boardrooms and government agencies, this new breed of decision makers are calling the shots. And they are delivering staggeringly accurate results. How can a football coach evaluate a player without ever seeing him play? Want to know whether the price of an airline ticket will go up or down before you buy? How can a formula outpredict wine experts in determining the best vintages? Super crunchers have the answers. In this brave new world of equation versus expertise, Ayres shows us the benefits and risks, who loses and who wins, and how super crunching can be used to help, not manipulate us.
Gone are the days of solely relying on intuition to make decisions. No businessperson, consumer, or student who wants to stay ahead of the curve should make another keystroke without reading Super Crunchers.
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