Week 4: Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil

I learned about this book when I saw Jacqueline Patterson speak at UC Davis a few months ago. She spoke about environmental racism in the United States– demonstrating systematic inequality of minorities, especially those who are poor. She cited this book when referring to some of the issues related to access to insurance, as well as the prison system.

If you are interested in having a look beneath the hood of the math that drives decisions being made every nanosecond of every day, definitely give this a go. O’Neil is a mathematician, but this does not mean her writing is unapproachable– her ability to translate complex concepts into terms anyone can understand is a real talent.

I have to admit, from my point of view nothing in this book was surprising– it only reaffirmed to me how poisonous capitalism is, and how nebulous it is becoming with enhancements from technology / artificial intelligence.