Mindmasters The data-driven science of predicting and changing human behavior
Book - 2025
"There are more digital pieces of data than stars in the universe. This data helps us monitor our planet, decipher our genetic code, and take a deep dive into our psychology. As algorithms become increasingly adept at accessing our minds, they also become more and more powerful at controlling it-enticing us to buy a certain product or vote for a certain political candidate. Some of us say this technological trend is no big deal. Others consider it one of the greatest threats to humanity. But what if the truth is more nuanced and mind-bending than that? In Mindmasters, Columbia Business School professor Sandra Matz offers a fascinating insider perspective on the art and data-driven science of psychological targeting. By relating her own... personal story of growing up in a small village-where few aspects of life remain truly private-to her groundbreaking research in computational psychology, Matz reveals how Big Data offers insights into the most intimate aspects of our psyche and how these insights empower external influence over the choices we make. Filled with Ted-Talk-like explanations and real-life examples from Matz's research and consulting work, Mindmasters paints a nuanced picture of the power of psychological targeting. Like nosy neighbors, it can be creepy, manipulative, and downright harmful-with scandals like Cambridge Analytica being merely the tip of the iceberg. Yet, like any tight-knit, supportive village community, it also holds enormous potential to help us live healthier and happier lives-for example, by improving our mental health, encouraging better financial decisions, or enabling us to break out of our echo chambers. With passion and clear-eyed precision, Matz shows us how to manage psychological targeting and redesign the data game in a way that empowers us to take back control and ask more of our personal data. Mindmasters is a riveting look at what our digital footprints reveal about us, how they're being used-for good and for ill-and how we can gain more control and power over the data that define us"--
| Location | Call Number | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd Floor New Shelf | 303.483/Matz | (NEW SHELF) |
On Holdshelf
+1 Hold |
- Subjects
- Published
-
Boston, Massachusetts :
Harvard Business Review Press
[2025]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- viii, 226 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781647826314
- Introduction: The Digital Village
- The origins of psychological targeting
- Part 1. Data is a Window Into Our Psychology
- 1. Decoding Our Psychology
- How algorithms can get to know us better than our closest friends do
- 2. The Identities We Craft Online
- Tell me what you like and I'll tell you who you are
- 3. The Digital Breadcrumbs of Our Existence
- Everything we do is data
- 4. You Are Not Yourself When You're Hungry
- How context shapes who we are
- Part 2. The Bright and Dark Sides of Psychological Targeting
- 5. Psychological Insights in Action
- An inside look at psychological targeting-from Cambridge Analytica to beauty products (and back)
- 6. Finding the Good
- Improving our finances, mental health, and maybe even our political climate
- 7. When Things Go Wrong
- Why we stand to lose more than just our privacy
- Part 3. Making Our Data Work for Us
- 8. We Need More Than Control
- Why being in charge of our own data isn't always a blessing
- 9. Creating a Better Data Ecosystem
- How to make it harder for third parties to exploit our data (and easier for them to serve us)
- 10. Coming Together
- What wine co-ops can teach us about new forms of collective data management
- Epilogue: The Moral Imperative to Shape Our Future
- Notes
- Index
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author