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Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World (2008)

by Alex (Sandy) Pentland(Favorite Author)

3.24 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0262162563 (ISBN13: 9780262162562)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

MIT Press (MA)

review 1: A truly original and brilliant contribution to the science and understanding of non-verbal communication. Pentland has figured out how to track (using tricked-out cell phones) four variables of unconscious human behavior, and he can use the results to predict all kinds of human interactions, like salary negotiations, speed dating, and venture capital pitches. The four variables are influence (who's dominating the conversation), mimicry (who's mirroring whom), activity (how excited someone is) and consistency (how many highs and lows). The book is a must-read for anyone interested in communications.
review 2: Initially, as the author explained his group's findings with a focus on one-to-one encounters, I found this book quite interesting. As the applications... more expanded to include work groups and ultimately, a world plan, the whole concept began to seem a lot less charming. The notion of a society wherein everyone wears "sociometers" and there is continuous monitoring of all activities, contacts, even gestures, in the name of making the world a better place, was presented with astonishing nonchalance. While I do understand that personal privacy is far less important today, particularly to the youngest among us, this Orwellian vision, put forward with complete equanimity by a group of MIT-affiliated thinkers, was more than a little disturbing. less

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