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Head in the cloud : why knowing things still matters when facts are so easy to look up / William Poundstone.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2016Edition: First editionDescription: x, 340 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780316256544
  • 0316256544
  • 9780316395069
  • 0316395064
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction: Facts are obsolete -- Part One: The Dunning-Kruger effect -- 1. "I wore the juice" -- 2. A map of ignorance -- 3. Dumb history -- 4. The one-in-five rule -- 5. The low-information electorate -- Part Two: The knowledge premium -- 6. Putting a price tag on facts -- 7. Elevator-pitch science -- 8. Grammar police, grammar hippies -- 9. Nanoframe -- 10. Is shrimp kosher? -- 11. Philosophers and reality stars -- 12. Sex and absurdity -- 13. Moving the goalposts -- 14. Marshmallow test -- 15. The value of superficial learning -- Part Three: Strategies for a culturally illiterate world -- 16. When dumbing down is smart -- 17. Curating knowledge -- 18. The ice-cap riddle -- 19. The fox and the hedgehog.
Summary: Looks at the state of knowledge in the American public, and demonstrates how many areas of knowledge correlate with quality of life, politics, and behavior, arguing that being knowledgeable has significant value even when facts can be looked up with little effort.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 306.4209 P876 Available 33111008436954
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The real-world value of knowledge in the mobile-device age.

More people know who Khloe Kardashian is than who Rene Descartes was. Most can't find Delaware on a map, correctly spell the word occurrence, or name the largest ocean on the planet. But how important is it to fill our heads with facts? A few keystrokes can summon almost any information in seconds. Why should we bother learning facts at all?

Bestselling author William Poundstone confronts that timely question in Head in the Cloud. He shows that many areas of knowledge correlate with the quality of our lives -- wealth, health, and happiness -- and even with politics and behavior. Combining Big Data survey techniques with eye-opening anecdotes, Poundstone examines what Americans know (and don't know) on topics ranging from quantum physics to pop culture.

Head in the Cloud asks why we're okay with spelling errors on menus but not on resumes; why Fox News viewers don't know which party controls Congress; why people who know "trivia" make more money than those who don't; how individuals can navigate clickbait and media spin to stay informed about what really matters.

Hilarious, humbling, and wildly entertaining, Head in the Cloud is a must-read for anyone who doesn't know everything.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-323) and index.

Introduction: Facts are obsolete -- Part One: The Dunning-Kruger effect -- 1. "I wore the juice" -- 2. A map of ignorance -- 3. Dumb history -- 4. The one-in-five rule -- 5. The low-information electorate -- Part Two: The knowledge premium -- 6. Putting a price tag on facts -- 7. Elevator-pitch science -- 8. Grammar police, grammar hippies -- 9. Nanoframe -- 10. Is shrimp kosher? -- 11. Philosophers and reality stars -- 12. Sex and absurdity -- 13. Moving the goalposts -- 14. Marshmallow test -- 15. The value of superficial learning -- Part Three: Strategies for a culturally illiterate world -- 16. When dumbing down is smart -- 17. Curating knowledge -- 18. The ice-cap riddle -- 19. The fox and the hedgehog.

Looks at the state of knowledge in the American public, and demonstrates how many areas of knowledge correlate with quality of life, politics, and behavior, arguing that being knowledgeable has significant value even when facts can be looked up with little effort.

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