Head in the Cloud: Why Knowing Things Still Matters When Facts Are So Easy to Look Up

by William Poundstone

Overview

The real-world value of knowledge in the mobile-device age.

More people know who Khloe Kardashian is than who Rene Descartes was. Most can't find Delaware on a map, correctly spell the word occurrence, or name the largest ocean on the planet. But how important is it to fill our heads with facts? A few keystrokes can summon almost any information in seconds. Why should we bother learning facts at all?

Bestselling author William Poundstone confronts that timely question in Head in the Cloud. He shows that many areas of knowledge correlate with the quality of our lives -- wealth, health, and happiness -- and even with politics and behavior. Combining Big Data survey techniques with eye-opening anecdotes, Poundstone examines what Americans know (and don't know) on topics ranging from quantum physics to pop culture.

Head in the Cloud asks why we're okay with spelling errors on menus but not on resumes; why Fox News viewers don't know which party controls Congress; why people who know "trivia" make more money than those who don't; how individuals can navigate clickbait and media spin to stay informed about what really matters.

Hilarious, humbling, and wildly entertaining, Head in the Cloud is a must-read for anyone who doesn't know everything.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316256537
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	07/19/2016
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	807,654
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

William Poundstone is the author of fourteen books -- including Rock Breaks Scissors, Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?, How Would You Move Mount Fuji?, and Fortune's Formula, which was Amazon Editor's pick for the number one nonfiction book of the year. He has written for the Believer, the Economist, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Esquire, Harper's, Harvard Business Review, the New York Times op-ed page and Book Review, and Village Voice. Follow Poundstone on Twitter (@WPoundstone) and learn more at his website, home.williampoundstone.net

Table of Contents

Introduction: Facts Are Obsolete 3

Part 1 The Dunning-Kruger Effect

1 "I Wore the Juice" 9

2 A Map of Ignorance 40

3 Dumb History 71

4 The One-in-Five Rule 95

5 The Low-Information Electorate 102

Part 2 The Knowledge Premium

6 Putting a Price Tag on Facts 115

7 Elevator-Pitch Science 130

8 Grammar Police, Grammar Hippies 148

9 Nanofame 163

10 Is Shrimp Kosher? 170

11 Philosophers and Reality Stars 177

12 Sex and Absurdity 189

13 Moving the Goalposts 200

14 Marshmallow Test 206

15 The Value of Superficial Learning 219

Part 3 Strategies for a Culturally Illiterate World

16 When Dumbing Down Is Smart 233

17 Curating Knowledge 251

18 The Ice-Cap Riddle 273

19 The Fox and the Hedgehog 287

Acknowledgments 297

Notes 299

Sources 315

Index 325

Editorial Reviews

"True fact: People who read Poundstone's extraordinary books are smarter (and happier) than people who don't."
—Seth Godin, author of The Icarus Deception

"This breezy, pop-research overview of the decline of basic knowledge in the age of information overdrive could provide plenty of nuggets for journalists and hand-wringers over how many more millennials are familiar with the Kardashians than Descartes and can't name a single South American novelist or locate most African countries on a map."—Kirkus Reviews

"A lot of fun."
—Rebecca Schinsky, Book Riot

From the Publisher

06/01/2016
Poundstone's (Are You Smart Enough To Work at Google?) newest title centers on the hypothesis that knowing more is more beneficial than simply asking the Internet for answers. Conducting surveys on a variety of topics, the author offers some startling results. People on the whole regardless of factors such as gender or political leanings would be well served retaining a bit more seemingly useless information; this assertion appears to correlate not only with greater income levels but also feelings of satisfaction. Divided into three segments, the book begins with explaining the Dunning-Kruger effect (ignorance of our own ignorance), then moves onto survey results, and concludes with a convincing argument for accumulating facts. Ultimately, learning nuggets of wisdom that may not serve an immediate purpose could be well worth the long-term rewards. Despite covering a touchy subject, the narrative never gets personal. Aiming for the benefit of humanity as a whole, Poundstone's book merely wishes enlightenment—"the only thing you can't Google is what you ought to be looking up." VERDICT This title is easily digestible and not jargon-heavy; if somewhat depressing, it is also inspiring. A worthwhile read for anyone, especially those looking to get a leg up.—Kaitlin Malixi, formerly at Virginia Beach P.L.

Library Journal

2016-04-19
The story of the dumbing-down of the American brain, as we have all become increasingly dependent on letting our computers think for us.This breezy, pop-research overview of the decline of basic knowledge in the age of information overdrive could provide plenty of nuggets for journalists and hand-wringers over how many more millennials are familiar with the Kardashians than Descartes and can't name a single South American novelist or locate most African countries on a map. So what? Whatever we need to know, we can Google, right? While Poundstone (Rock Breaks Scissors: A Practical Guide to Outguessing and Outwitting Almost Everybody, 2014, etc.) is careful not to confuse correlation with causation, he suggests that, where general knowledge is concerned, "high scores correlate with high income, good health, and sometimes other positive attributes" (including happiness, in some studies). In a voting democracy, it's sad to note that little more than a third of Americans can name the three branches of government and that some of those with the strongest reservations about immigration, global warming, or evolution are among the least knowledgeable in general. However, Poundstone's primary tone is less alarmist than amusing, since it's clear that he's including all of us among those who could stand to know more than we do. As he heads one section, "True or False: You and Everyone You Know Are Idiots." Some of the author's ways of determining knowledge or lack thereof can seem, as he describes some of his results, "arbitrary and puzzling." For example, one chapter seems to equate knowledge with recognizing historical portraits and says that it's quite possible that those who don't recognize a photo of Bach ("about half of the American public") might well be familiar with his music. (Though perhaps it's more remarkable that even half of Americans surveyed recognize a photo of Bach.) The book reads like an extended game of Trivial Pursuit, featuring some who play very well and many more who play very poorly.

Kirkus Reviews