Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

by Brian Christian

Every harried renter, driver, and suitor you see around you as you go through a typical week is essentially reinventing the wheel. They don’t need a therapist; they need an algorithm. The therapist tells them to find the right, comfortable balance between impulsivity and overthinking. The algorithm tells them the balance is thirty-seven percent.

Remembering that every “best” song and restaurant among your favorites began humbly as something merely “new” to you is a reminder that there may be yet-unknown bests still out there—and thus that the new is indeed worthy of at least some of our attention.

When balancing favorite experiences and new ones, nothing matters as much as the interval over which we plan to enjoy them.

A sobering property of trying new things is that the value of exploration, of finding a new favorite, can only go down over time, as the remaining opportunities to savor it dwindle.

Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention. —FRANK SINATRA

“To try and fail is at least to learn; to fail to try is to suffer the inestimable loss of what might have been.”