Seth Stephens-Davidowitz wrote Everybody Lies Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. Seth holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He is a former quantitative analyst at Google. Seth also writes for the NYTimes. The stories are similar to Freakonomics but are based upon much larger datasets.
Everybody Lies is able to utilize Google search data that reveals in the opening chapter that we live in a very racist society.
Seth reviews search results from the 2016 Presidential election. Data mining via Google Search revealed hard truths that most would not say in mixed company.
Search at at work or home, Google data clearly indicated racists supported Trump in the 2016 Presidential election.
The outcomes of data mining Google search, Wikipedia, Facebook, Pornhub and Stormfront. The results are somewhat surprising if you simply follow analog driven surveys popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Clearly the mobile revolution and search provides real insights to the sway of the country or just specific sets of groups.
Everybody Lies tackles some interesting topics with vast amounts of data sets:
- How much sex do people really have?
- How many Americans are actually racist?
- What should you say on a first date if you want a second?
- Is America experiencing a hidden back-alley abortion crisis?
- Where is the best place to raise kids?
- Can you game the stock market?
- Do parents treat sons differently from daughters?
- How many men are gay?
- Do violent movies increase violent crime?
- How many people actually read the books they buy?
Like Freakonomics, the results will surprise you.
One of the more interesting data sets is within chapter three: Bodies as Data and involved a great story of American Pharoah. What makes a great racehorse? Actually the percentile of the left ventricle. Jeff Seder found the way to measure success of a racehorse. A great story is here. Seder, a Harvard trained lawyer took his hedge fund experience and applied it to his love of champion racehorses.
