Algorithms to Live by by Brian Christian

Algorithms to Live by by Brian Christian

Wall Street Journal Bestseller
New York Times Editor's Choice
New Yorker Favorite Book of the Year

"A remarkable book... A solid, research-based book that's applicable to real life." - Forbes

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.

Brian Christian's work has appeared in The Atlantic, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, and many literary and scientific publications. He has been featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, NPR's Radiolab, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has lectured at Google, Microsoft, the London School of Economics, and elsewhere. An award-winning poet, Christian holds a degree in philosophy and computer science from Brown University and an MFA in poetry from the University of Washington. The Most Human Human, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, has been translated into nine languages. Christian lives in Philadelphia.

Visit the author's website at: www.brchristian.com.