Dataclysm: Love, Sex, Race, and IdentityWhat Our Online Lives Tell Us about Our Offline Selves

A New York Times BestsellerAn audacious, irreverent investigation of human behaviorand a first look at a revolution in the makingOur personal data has been used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us stuff we dont need. In Dataclysm, Christian Rudder uses it to show us who we truly are.For centuries, weve relied on polling or smallscale lab experiments to study human behavior. Today, a new approach is possible. As we live more of our lives online, researchers can finally observe us directly, in vast numbers, and without filters. Data scientists have become the new demographers.In this daring and original book, Rudder explains how Facebook likes can predict, with surprising accuracy, a persons sexual orientation and even intelligence; how attractive women receive exponentially more interview requests; and why you must have haters to be hot. He charts the rise and fall of Americas most reviled word through Google Search and examines the new dynamics of collaborative rage on Twitter. He shows how people express themselves, both privately and publicly. What is the least Asian thing you can say? Do people bathe more in Vermont or New Jersey? What do black women think about Simon & Garfunkel? (Hint: they dont think about Simon & Garfunkel.) Rudder also traces human migration over time, showing how groups of people move from certain small towns to the same big cities across the globe. And he grapples with the challenge of maintaining privacy in a world where these explorations are possible.Visually arresting and full of wit and insight, Dataclysm is a new way of seeing ourselvesa brilliant alchemy, in which math is made human and numbers become the narrative of our time.