REVIEW: Everybody Lies

Everybody Lies by Seth Stephan
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Bloomsbury India

This is an engaging and informative book about the huge amount of data available online and what it tells us about society.
As a chapter tells us, ALL THE WORLD’S A LAB. The data collected and shared by Seth Stephens- Davidowitz is downright disturbing at times. That there are dark sexual proclivities isn’t shocking so much as what they are, based on research. Also, who knew that your neighbor winning the lottery can have a strange impact on your own life. How odd human nature, what bizarre subjects human beings become, and subjects of research, it seems, we all are. What the heck does google searches reveal about us? A lot, actually. I spent a few chapters of this book with my moth hanging open, catching flies. Ethical questions certainly give rise to much of the research, just where is the ‘internet’ taking us all? Just who is watching, why? Well, read on my fellow test subjects. Do we think in strange ways? Naturally. I struggle with the methods of collecting data and yet, it’s true that while it can be used for nefarious purposes, just like anything else, there can be great benefits too.

The author's writing style is comfortable to read, which is no easy feat when you're talking about statistics and other difficult concepts. The dude obviously is a brainiac but he makes sure you're not intimidated by that fact


His conclusion is an argument that Big Data is the best shot for the social sciences to officially move into the realm of “real” science, even claiming that if Karl Popper were alive he’d likely be convinced. I’m not quite so skeptical of the social sciences as Popper was, and certainly no science, even “hard” science, is completely free from the biases of the scientist. But there is definitely more room for ideology to skew results in the social sciences. Stephens-Davidowitz makes a good case that big data (in combination with smaller data) can significantly strengthen the reliability of results. He convinced me that it does, but not to the extent that he believes it does.

The book makes the point that social science and literary studies have a fantastic new source of great data in big data. It's an interesting and seemingly valid point.

In short, this was a great read. I really enjoyed reading this book.

 Thank you Bloomsbury India for sending this over !