{"id":56357,"date":"2022-01-16T18:28:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T22:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=56357"},"modified":"2022-01-27T16:35:01","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T20:35:01","slug":"algorithms-to-live-by-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Algorithms to Live By: Review and Critical Reception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths&#8217; <em>Algorithms to Live By<\/em> worth reading? What is the key message to take away from the book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In their book <em>Algorithms to Live By<\/em>, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths make the case that computer science, a field that\u2019s typically seen as highly specialized, actually contains a wealth of practical knowledge we can use to improve our lives. The authors argue that by utilizing the same strategies as computers, we can process tasks with blinding efficiency and quickly come up with creative solutions to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/complex-problem\/\">complex problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is our review of<em> <em>Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-about-the-authors\"><strong>About the Authors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Brian Christian is one of the rare few to find critical success in both scientific and artistic fields. His academic work on human biases has been published in periodicals such as <em>Cognitive Science,<\/em> and his popular science writing has been featured in <em>Best American Science &amp; Nature Writing.<\/em> His poetry, on the other hand, has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and <a href=\"http:\/\/langanfilms.com\/heliotropes.html\">adapted into a short film<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian has received the most public recognition for his non-fiction writing career\u2014along with <em>Algorithms to Live By, <\/em>he is the author of the award-winning books <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/201876\/the-most-human-human-by-brian-christian\/\"><em>The Most Human Human<\/em><\/a> (2011), an exploration of what it means to be human in light of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, and <a href=\"https:\/\/wwnorton.com\/books\/9780393635829\"><em>The Alignment Problem<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>(2020), a diagnosis of what Christian sees as the most serious danger posed by the rise of artificial intelligence\u2014the threat that computers will do what we tell them to do, but not what we truly want or need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science and philosophy from Brown University, as well as an MFA in poetry from the University of Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Connect with Brian Christian:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/brianchristian.org\/\">Website<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brianchristian?lang=en\">Twitter<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom Griffiths is an esteemed career academic specializing in human cognition. Most notably, Griffiths served at UC Berkeley for 12 years, entering as an assistant professor in 2006, becoming director of their Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences in 2010, and getting promoted to full professor in 2015. He took a job at Princeton University in 2018 and currently heads the Computational Cognitive Science Lab there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Griffiths has a Ph.D. in Psychology as well as master\u2019s degrees in Psychology and Statistics from Stanford University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Connect with Tom Griffiths:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/cocosci.princeton.edu\/tom\/index.php\">Website<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cocosci_lab?lang=en\">Twitter<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-book-s-publication\"><strong>The Book\u2019s Publication<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Publisher: <a href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9781627790369\">Macmillan Publishers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imprint: Henry Holt and Co.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Algorithms to Live By <\/em>was published in 2016 and would eventually become Brian Christian\u2019s most popular book, gaining more attention than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/201876\/the-most-human-human-by-brian-christian\/\"><em>The Most Human Human<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/wwnorton.com\/books\/9780393635829\"><em>The Alignment Problem<\/em><\/a>. It\u2019s Griffiths\u2019s first and only published book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Algorithms to Live By <\/em>is the odd one out in Christian\u2019s bibliography\u2014it\u2019s far more prescriptive and less exploratory than his other works. Additionally, Tom Griffiths\u2019s contributions make <em>Algorithms <\/em>feel more academic, like an entry-level computer science course, compared to the creative nonfiction style of Christian\u2019s other books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-critical-reception\"><strong>Critical Reception<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>MIT Technology Review<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2016\/12\/23\/243930\/best-books-of-2016\/\">named <em>Algorithms to Live By <\/em>one of their best books of the year<\/a>. The book also received positive reviews in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2016\/apr\/29\/thinking-like-computer-scientist-oliver-burkeman\"><em>The Guardian<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/07\/24\/books\/review\/only-humans-need-apply-and-more.html\"><em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, and<em> <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/daviddisalvo\/2016\/05\/31\/believe-it-or-not-computer-science-can-help-you-solve-your-problems-without-a-computer\/?sh=3d7659b72a90\"><em>Forbes<\/em><\/a> (earning a spot on the magazine\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/daviddisalvo\/2016\/12\/19\/the-best-brain-books-of-2016\/?sh=2276192a7093\">list of the \u201cMust-Read Brain Books of 2016\u201d<\/a>). The book became Amazon\u2019s #1 bestselling book in Science, as well as Audible\u2019s #1 bestselling nonfiction audiobook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audiences praise the book for its accessible approach to computer science, giving the authors credit for effortlessly deconstructing complicated ideas without oversimplifying or talking down to the reader. Many readers, even those who were initially skeptical of the premise, claim they were surprised by how practical and useful the authors\u2019 algorithms proved to be. Additionally, audiences enjoy the broad range of topics which keep the book consistently fresh and interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who dislike the book feel that the authors\u2019 claims don\u2019t translate well into the real world, arguing that the book works better as an introduction to computer science than as a practical guide to live by. Some found Christian and Griffiths\u2019s tone too dry to hold their attention for the entirety of the book. Finally, some disagreed with the book\u2019s assumption that productivity and efficiency are universal human goals, arguing that <em>Algorithms<\/em>\u2019s advice focuses less on how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/living-a-good-life\/\">live a good life<\/a> and more on how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-complete-a-task-successfully\/\">complete tasks<\/a> like a machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-commentary-on-the-book-s-approach\"><strong>Commentary on the Book\u2019s Approach<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Algorithms to Live By <\/em>draws its ideas from the field of computer science, as well as adjacent mathematical disciplines such as statistics and game theory. Christian and Griffiths describe the strategies and solutions that scientists in these fields use to solve computational problems, then speculate as to how humans can apply these same strategies and solutions to their own lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That being said, Christian and Griffiths approach <em>Algorithms to Live By<\/em> as a primer in computer science first and a collection of life advice second. Within each chapter, the authors trace their way through a concept from computer science, connecting it to real life when convenient but prioritizing a coherent lesson in computing. Chapters 3 (\u201cSorting\u201d) and 10 (\u201cNetworking\u201d) especially emphasize computer science over real-life practicality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths&#8217; Algorithms to Live By worth reading? What is the key message to take away from the book? In their book Algorithms to Live By, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths make the case that computer science, a field that\u2019s typically seen as highly specialized, actually contains a wealth of practical knowledge we can use to improve our lives. The authors argue that by utilizing the same strategies as computers, we can process tasks with blinding efficiency and quickly come up with creative solutions to complex problems. Here is our review of Algorithms to Live By:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,458],"tags":[549],"class_list":["post-56357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-review","tag-algorithms-to-live-by","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Algorithms to Live By: Review and Critical Reception - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths&#039; Algorithms to Live By worth reading? 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We&#039;ll review the book&#039;s context, background, and reception.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-16T22:28:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-27T20:35:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/book-reading-quotes.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Algorithms to Live By: Review and Critical Reception\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-16T22:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-27T20:35:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/\"},\"wordCount\":855,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/book-reading-quotes.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Algorithms to Live By\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/\",\"name\":\"Algorithms to Live By: Review and Critical Reception - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/algorithms-to-live-by-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/book-reading-quotes.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-16T22:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-27T20:35:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Is Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths' Algorithms to Live By worth reading? 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