000			02443cam a2200301Ia 4500
001			47195017
003			OCoLC
005			20201110052417.0
008			010626s2001 nyu b 000 0 eng d
020			_a1587990601 :
020			_a9781587990601
035			_a(OCoLC)47195017
040			_aJED _cJED _dUMC _dGGN _dBAKER _dYDXCP _dOCLCG _dUMR
050		4	_aQA141.15 _b.B69 2001
092			_a510 _bB7922s 2001
100	1		_aBoyle, David, _d1958- _927199
245	1	4	_aThe sum of our discontent : _b1 2 3 4 5, how numbers make us irrational / _cDavid Boyle
260			_aNew York : _bTexere, _cc2001
300			_axix, 198 p. ; _c24 cm
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [197]-198)
505	0		_aIntroduction. The tyranny of numbers -- A short history of counting -- Bentham and the measure of happiness -- Damage by numbers -- Robert Malthus and the death of moral statistics -- The feelgood factor -- Frederick Taylor's time machine -- Toward an ethical profit line -- The fine balance of John Maynard Keynes -- The new indicators -- Edgar Cahn and the price of everything -- The bottom line
520	1		_a"The counters are taking over our lives. For centuries, the humankind has attempted to divine meaning from life through numbers. The more materialistic we become, the more we need to quantify everything. Jeremy Bentham once defined the aim of politics as "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." Over the last two hundred years our means of quantification have become increasingly disturbing. Happiness has become quantifiable; surveys that "measure" emotional intelligence find that Mexicans are the happiest people on earth and the Japanese are the most miserable, love is measured by the number or orgasms, crime rates can be made to correspond to random speeches or sun spots, and a city's success is judged according to the number of vegetarian restaurants versus the number of McDonald's." "In our scientific and technological numbers-obsessed age, are we losing touch with our instincts? To what extent can statistics easily translate into happiness? This interdisciplinary book spans the impact of numbers on the very tenets of civilization: philosophy, science, art, and business."--BOOK JACKET
650		0	_aMathematics _xSocial aspects _927200
650		0	_aStatistics _xSocial aspects _927201
650		0	_aNumber concept _927202
650		0	_aNumbers, Real _xHistory _927203
942			_2ddc _cBK
999			_c110990 _d110990