The Road To Happiness Passes Through Data

Don’t Trust Your Gut: Using Data Instead of Instinct to Make Better Choices

Author: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 293

Price: Rs 440

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of the book, worked as data scientist at Google, and it would come naturally for him to trust data next to God. No wonder then, he makes an extreme statement at the outset, in the introduction of the book, “Thanks to Big Data, we are finally able to tell parents what really matters for raising a successful kid and what matters a lot less.” 

True enough, life has become easier thanks to access to search engines and we have ready reckoners to solve myriad problems: which institute is best for biomedical engineering in the US; what is the cost of accommodation for students in and around London; my son gets chronic pains in the lower abdomen, what could be the reason; how to solve post-retirement loneliness issues…. The advice on ‘how to’, ‘why’ and ‘where’ is immense.  The data generated by research agencies and search engines is also serving several purposes, like popping up options aligned to the keywords you would feed into the search bar. 

But do you necessarily rush to your laptop each time you have to decide? Would you seek out statistics or trust your instinct regarding the decision to get married?  Would you trust your motherly instincts and your core values while raising your kids or trust data, which might be representative of aspirations of the society on the other side of the globe? And will you pick up careers based on what data says about prospects, or because you genuinely love a specific field? 

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz does offer some vignettes of wisdom. Sample this: “One crucial bug in our mind that limits our happiness: our inability to focus on the present moment.” The author shows statistics to prove it; traditional wisdom has emphasised it all along; and we feel it instinctively. 

Again, the author relies on data to show being close to nature makes one happy.  A child knows that. And should one really make data a universal truth, when it puts reading rather low on factors giving happiness? Why not be philosophical about it – each one unto her own – and take up pursuits that best suit one’s inclinations, even if it’s binge-watching Netflix?

A moment of insight comes when he talks about our reaction to our favourite team losing a match: “We all need to be more Buddhist in our sports consumption.” This, then is the crux of happiness – moderation, looking inwards, bringing about that change inwards, so that no strong wind can shake us. 

To societies that believe in certitudes, and leaving nothing to chance – like where will the kid, not yet born, study three years from the date of birth; where will we watch the eclipse two years from now; who will my life partner be; where will I be 10 years from now…. Covid should have come as a reality check. All the long-drawn plans can come a cropper.