Weapons of Math Destruction

Here is a book review. First of all, adorable title, isn't it? You should read this. I give it four stars, two thumbs up, a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, whatever rating system you want to use.

Despite the title, there is almost no math in it. It does talk about how businesses use information on us. So, it's all about statistics, but you don't have to understand statistics to read it. This is how they use it and misuse it. It is really interesting.

I don't get paranoid about stuff like people watching me, but I'm a little more so now.

I'll give you a few quotes from the book:

How they check if advertising is working: "They can change the font on a singe advertisement from
blue to red, serve each version to ten million people, and keep track of which one gets more clicks."

U.S. News and World Report gives a annual ranking of colleges. Most all the colleges try to game the system to get ranked higher: "Baylor University paid the fee for admitted students to retake the SAT, hoping another try would boost their scores - and Baylor's ranking." They mentioned that college affordability wasn't considered. So colleges have spent tons of money to look better. Its one of the reasons tuition has skyrocketed.

A college that has been around for two years, but with tons of money to recruit to professors, "Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz University landed in seventh place, right behind Harvard."

Also, "It's easy to raise graduation rates by lowering standards. Many students struggle with math and science and foreign languages. Water down those requirements, and more students will graduate."

And, "It would also be a cinch to pump up the income numbers for graduates. All colleges would have to do is shrink their liberal arts programs, and get rid of education departments and social work departments, since teachers and social workers make less money than engineers, chemists, and computer scientists."

OK, I got carried away with the college stuff, but there is so much more - credit card companies, on-line colleges, internet advertisements, SAT scores, bank loans...

I think you would like this book. Again, no math, just reading.