Algorithms to Live By
The Computer Science of Human Decisions
by Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths · first published 2016
64% recommend35% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Shows how computer science ideas like optimal stopping (the secretary problem) and computational kindness apply to everyday decisions such as dating, scheduling and work. Suits engineers and non-technical readers alike.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Algorithms to Live By looks at the simple, precise algorithms that computers use to solve the complex 'human' problems that we face, and discovers what they can tell us about the nature and origin of the mind. An audiobook version can be found at [here][1] [1]: https://archive.org/details/AlgorithmstoLiveBy
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I can also recommend "Algorithms to Live By", by Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths. https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci... Super accessible.
on “Algorithms for Decision Making” ↗Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions An interesting mix of computer science and psychology. Just started on this one recently. Highly recommended by a colleague. Seems great so far.
on “Ask HN: What's the best computer science book you've read recently?” ↗Allow me to recommend Algorithms To Live By (Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths, 2016).
on “Anecdotes from Donald Knuth and Robert Tarjan” ↗"Algorithms to Live By" "The Phoenix Project" / "The Unicorn Project"
on “Ask HN: Programming Audio Book Recommendations” ↗I love audio books and I really enjoy books on programming but the overlap of those 2 sets is pretty small in my experience. Any suggestions? I'm really enjoying Algorithms to live by - by Brian Christian Right now. Thanks
on “Ask HN: Audio books for developers?” ↗"Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions" by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths is an interesting listen on Audible. Surprised that nobody has mentioned it here yet. It is a perfect candidate for an audiobook…
on “Ask HN: Do you know any good audio books for developers?” ↗I keep remembering computational kindness idea from the marvelous book Algorithms to Live By: Try not to pass the cognitive load to others. Make them do as little work as possible -- be computationally kind.
on “Show HN: How many miles do you think you've scrolled today?” ↗Optimal Stopping is the first chapter of Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths' book Algorithms to Live By, which does a good job describing the problem in laymen terms.
on “Optimal Stopping” ↗Tons, the book "Algorithms to live by" go head first into this - https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci... It can sound a bit simple at first, but the human - algo stories are terrific.
on “Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?” ↗…Test-Driven Development (TDD) (Once you’ve learned all the above, you always start writing tests first) 5. Head First Design Principles (Terminology and concepts for maintainable and extendable design) 6. Algorithms to Live By (Algorithms are fundamental ideas before we write any code) 7. Git Pro (Software cannot run without a Version Control System (VCS). We use it every minute of our working day) 8. Your Code as a Crime…
on “Ask HN: Top 10 Timeless Software Books That ChangedLife as Software Engineer?” ↗I give books to people I work with and the 3 books that people will have heard of are: Thinking fast and slow by Danny K Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Algorithms To Live By by Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths I thought about giving fictional books to people, but it seems to personal a present for a work acquaintance
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗Cool to see lots of comments on real life algorithm applications, if anyone is interested in diving deeper there's a good book that came out recently called "Algorithms to Live By" by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. It talks about how we often use CS algorithms in real life without knowing. If you want a glimpse here's a talk they gave at Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwKj-wgXteo
on “Programming books you might want to consider reading” ↗I would choose to talk more about Algorithms and less about Artificial Intelligence as defined in the popular imagination. You might find Christian and Griffiths, Algorithms to Live By a useful resource augmented by an introductory discussion of machine learning. The question to promote discussion: can machine learning algorithms learn to do machine learning better.
on “Ask HN: I have 1 hour to introduce AI to high schoolers” ↗This is a bit vague, but here are some suggestions Algorithms to live by Brian Christian https://www.amazon.ca/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Decis... Bad Choices: How Algorithms Can Help You Think Smarter and Live Happier by Ali Almossawi https://www.amazon.ca/Bad-Choices-Algorithms-Smarter-Happier...
on “Ask HN: Best non-academic algorithms book?” ↗I started listening to the audio book version of "Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions"[1] by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. It starts by talking about the Secretary Problem and the 37% rule and it is very entertaining how much of our daily problems…
on “Secretary Problem” ↗