Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions [Paperback]

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 theyve 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 ones inbox to peering into the future,Algorithms to Live Bytransforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.

A remarkable book... A solid, research-based book thats applicable to real life. The algorithms the authors discuss are, in fact, more applicable to real-life problems than Id have ever predicted.... Its well worth the time to find a copy ofAlgorithms to Live Byand dig deeper.
Forbes

By the end of the book, I was convinced. Not because I endorse the idea of living like some hyper-rational Vulcan, but because computing algorithms could be a surprisingly useful way to embrace the messy compromises of real, non-Vulcan life.
The Guardian(UK)

I absolutely reveled in this book... It's the perfect antidote to the argument you often hear from young math students: What's the point? I'll never use this in real life!... The whole business, whether it's the relative simplicity of the 37% rule or the mind-twisting possibilities of game theory, is both potentially practical and highly enjoyable as presented here. Recommended.
Popular Science(UK)

An entertaining, intelligel£Í