The dark arts of mathematical deception by charles seife more and more, our society is being shaped by masters of proofiness. Proofiness is behind such bizarre stories as a mathematical formula for the perfect butt and sprinters who can run faster than the speed of sound. Science journalist seife zero borrows the title of his book from comedian stephen colberts wellknown term truthiness. The most notorious fakes, frauds, and forgeries in the art world by anthony m. The title, proofiness, refers to the various ways that assertions of fake numbers have been used to defend and promote falsehoods. Charles seife the bestselling author of zero shows how mathematical misinformation pervadesand shapesour daily lives. The dark arts of mathematical deception by charles seife, the new york times, 19 september 2010. The art of deception shows how vulnerable we all are government, business, and each of us personally to the intrusions of the social engineer. Individuals may print single copies for their own use. My talk at skepticon iv on the importance of bayes theorem to skepticism is now available on youtube bayes theorem.
The dark arts of mathematical deception sun in a bottle. Although few of the examples will be surprising, the book does a nice job providing the big picture of. According to msnbc, having a child makes you stupid. Charles seife, who majored in math in college and is now a science writer and professor of journalism at new york university, has come up with a new word. And about 74 percent of people believe the statistics you just gave. Rational choice and bounded rationality springerlink. A day in the life of charles seife the open notebook.
According to seife, bogus statistics abound and belief in these socalled facts can have. Math is the only truly exact science, but numbers can also be used to fudge and deceive. But lous too busy with his own cases to brood over john and daphne. Proofiness the dark arts of mathematical deception pdf download. The bestselling author of zero shows how mathematical misinformation pe. Numbers have peculiar powersthey can disarm skeptics, befuddle journalists, and hoodwink the public into believing almost anything.
See more ideas about math, mathematics and math books. As our society becomes evermore datadriven, i am increasingly interested in reading books such as proofiness. The dark art of mathematical deception by charles seife. Proofiness the dark arts of mathematical deception book. My slides in that on the ufo case dont show the whole text because i had to use darrel rays computer at the last minute thx d. Sep 19, 2010 lies, damned lies, and proofiness math is the only truly exact science, but numbers can also be used to fudge and deceive. The dark arts of mathematical deception charles seife peter shawn taylor november 15 2010.
It is used to bring down beloved government officials and to appoint undeserving ones both democratic and republican, to convict the innocent and acquit the guilty, to ruin our economy, and to fix the outcomes of future. Author charles seife explores the ways numbers can lie in his new book. Hoaxes, fakes and frauds the pointeclaire public library blog. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. The dark arts of mathematical deception by charles seife. Falsifying numbers is the crudest form of proofiness. Oct 29, 2010 the tendency of academics, politicians and pundits to generate such numerical falsehoods from data and the tendency of the public to believe the results is a phenomenon cleverly explored in the new book proofiness. The dark art of mathematical deception by charles seife examines the misuse of data and statistics in todays world. Knowledgegathering is systematic demolition and reconstruction of our view of the world it can be an unsettling and uncomfortable process. May 27, 2014 charles seife is a professor of journalism at new york university and the author of five books, most recently proofiness.
It begins by emphasizing the two major forces that frame consumer decisions, namely, the goals humans strive to attain in the marketplace and the resources they have to exchange for goods and services that achieve those goals. The dark arts of mathematical deception i cant get enough of maths books, and this one is particularly interesting to me, at least. The dark arts of mathematical deception this is an excellent look at how statistics is being mangled and manipulated by people who know better to achieve results that border on or go beyond the criminal. Dont be fooled by this breezy and entertaining book. Turn of mind is a remarkable debut that examines the deception and. Sep 19, 2010 falsifying numbers is the crudest form of proofiness. The dark arts of mathematical deception by charles seife 1,420 ratings, 3. Les ebooks kindle peuvent etre lus sur nimporte quel appareil avec lappli gratuite kindle.
Proofiness, as charles seife explains in this eyeopening book, is the art of using pure mathematics for impure ends, and he reminds readers that bad mathematics has a dark side. The dark arts of mathematical deception nyu scholars. Now he shows readers how the power of skewed metricsor proofiness is. Tell us about proofiness, and those ever darker arts of mathematical deception. Seife is a professor of journalism at new york university and the author of four other books. The problem with numbers is that they seem to have a higher truth associated with them. Les ebooks kindle peuvent etre lus sur nimporte quel appareil avec lappli. The book divides the concept of proofiness into a number of categories such as disestimation and fruitpacking. I want to know how numbers, algorithms, data, and mathematics are being used or abused to make decisions, mount arguments, and influence the course of civilization. Charles seife the bestselling author of zero shows how mathematical misinformation pervadesand shapes. The art of deception isbn 9780786867240 pdf epub ridley.
Seife defines proofiness as the art of using bogus mathematical arguments t. The tendency of academics, politicians and pundits to generate such numerical falsehoods from data and the tendency of the public to believe the results is a phenomenon cleverly explored in the new book proofiness. Author charles seife explores the ways numbers can lie in his new book, proofiness. Proofiness from the author of zero, comes this admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government the boston globe in zero, charles seife presented readers with a thrilling account of the strangest number known to humankind. Proofiness by charles seife overdrive rakuten overdrive. The bestselling author of proofiness and zero explains how to separate fact from fantasy in the digital world digital information is a powerful tool that spreads unbelievably rapidly, infects all corners of society, and is all but impossible to controleven when that information is actually a lie. The bestselling author of proofiness and zero explains how to separate fact from. This chapter presents a brief exposition of consumer decision making.
The dark arts of mathematical deception, 2010, etc. I want to know how numbers, algorithms, data, and mathematics are being used or abused to make decisions. Oct 05, 2010 in this eyeopening book, charles seife explains proofiness as the art of using pure mathematics for impure ends, reminding readers that bad mathematics has a dark side. The dark art of mathematical deception science book. The dark arts of mathematical deception, by charles seife. Seife defines proofiness as the art of using bogus mathematical arguments t science journalist seife zero borrows the title of his book from comedian stephen colberts wellknown term view full. To others, though, its a distortion and a complete abuse of mathematics. The bestselling author of zero shows how mathematical misinformation pervadesand shapesour daily lives. The dark arts of mathematical deception by charles. The dark arts of mathematical deception in new york journal of books. Potemkin numbers are phony statistics based on erroneous or nonexistent. Seife lays out a rogues gallery of more subtle deceptions.
Proofiness the dark arts of mathematical deception pdf. In this book he shows how numbers are misused to deceive. It is used to bring down beloved government officials and to appoint undeserving ones both democratic and republican, to convict the innocent and acquit the. In this eyeopening book, charles seife explains proofiness as the art of using pure mathematics for impure ends, reminding readers that bad mathematics has a dark. The biography of a dangerous idea publishers weekly. In this securityconscious era, we spend huge sums on technology to protect our computer networks and data. Proofiness book markham public library bibliocommons. It is used to bring down beloved government officials and to appoint undeserving ones both democratic and republican, to convict the innocent and acquit the guilty. Not really, says charles seife, author of proofiness. From siam news, volume 44, number 1, januaryfebruary. The lessons of proofiness can be learned from the following quote. Charles seife, professor of journalism, new york university. The first couple of chapters are dedicated to giving you a quick background in math and statistics so that you.
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