Overview

Human beings are competitive. We want to know who is the strongest, who is the richest, and who is the cleverest of all. Some situations, like ranking people based on height, can be ranked in objective ways. However, many ""Top Ten"" lists are based on subjective categorization and give only the illusion of objectivity. In fact, we don't always want to be seen objectively since we don't mind having a better image or rank than deserved. Ranking: The Unwritten Rules of the Social Game We All Play applies scientific theories to everyday experience by raising and answering questions like: Are college ranking lists objective? How do we rank and rate countries based on their fragility, level of corruption, or even happiness? How do we find the most relevant web pages? How are employees ranked? This book is for people who have a neighbor with a fancier car; employees, who are being ranked by their supervisors; managers, who are involved in ranking but may have qualms about the process; businesspeople interested in creating better visibility for their companies; scientists, writers, artists, and other competitors who would like to see themselves at the top of a success list; or college students who are just preparing to enter a new phase of social competition. Readers will engage in an intellectual adventure to better understand the difficulties of navigating between objectivity and subjectivity and to better identify and modify their place in real and virtual communities by combining human and computational intelligence.

Full Product Details

9780190935498

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""An informative and amusing book. The author collected a treasury of stories and reflections connected with comparison, rating and ranking from the widest possible area of sports, arts, sciences, politics, media and shopping, just to mention a few. The book's main concern is not how to rank, but rather how and in what extent ranking can be avoided."" -- Scientometrics ""P�ter �rdi's book was not a risk-free venture. It deserves a lot of success, since it has a large literary immersion, but does not hide the opinions of others."" -- Magyar Tudom�ny ""Drawing upon a remarkable range of disciplines, field studies, and historical insights, �rdi expertly reveals the hidden social and cognitive dynamics that inform our never-ending hunger to assign metrics to social life. With great nuance and a keen eye for detail, �rdi takes us through how supposedly straightforward processes of measurement, comparison, prioritization, and reputation management are fraught with bias and complex hidden social values. Ranking is an analytical tour-de-force and a joy to read, going straight to the top of my list of indispensable works on social hierarchy."" -- Alexander Cooley, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University ""As my grandmother used to say, if your actions are based on comparisons with others, you'll never enjoy life. But as Ranking shows -- with lucid examples from practically every sphere of human endeavor -- we humans can't help but compare ourselves to others. So who's the best at revealing the principles and mechanisms that underpin the ubiquitous tendency to compare? The pantomathic P�ter �rdi, that's who! �rdi's book, written with insight and humor, is a delightful read. I learned a lot from it, as will any individual or organization interested in this enduring aspect of the human condition-in comparing better and choosing wisely."" -- - J. A. Scott Kelso, Glenwood and Martha Creech Eminent Scholar in Science, Florida Atlantic University; Professor Emeritus of Computational Neuroscience, Ulster University ""Most parents know their children are above average-sure proof of the subjectivity of ratings. With a light touch, combining personal experience, findings from biology and sociology and more, and with witty asides, P�ter �rdi explains why Top 10 Lists fascinate us, and how to temper subjectivity with hard data when ratings and rankings truly matter."" -- Michael Arbib, Author and Editor of more than forty books, from his pioneering Brains, Machines, and Mathematics to How the Brain Got Language: The Mirror System Hypothesis ""Rankings are essential in our lives-they determine the education we receive, the jobs we qualify for, the books we read, and the music we listen to. In Ranking, P�ter �rdi's vivid prose brings us the science of rankings. Using examples from politics to culture, he shows how these patterns determine who wins and who loses the ranking game."" -- Albert-L�szl� Barab�si, Professor of Network Science, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School; author of The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success ""Peter �rdi's recent, science-based, but still highly personal book titled Ranking is a must-read to everyone who wishes to avoid being overly depressed by some unfavorable ranking result. First, a bit of humor always helps accept harsh reality. Second, and much more important, the reader will certainly sharpen her or his skills to find specific reasons in any ranking system to prove that the methodology leading to the unwelcome final result is totally unjust. And finally, the book helps develop an increased tolerance toward the fact that the unjust ranking methods are still widely used to aid decision making."" -- Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis ""Ultimately, [Ranking] is a call to think more critically about objectivity and subjectivity in a society where we are so invested in ranking everything from colleges to job performances, sport teams, and tourist attractions."" -- Choice ""The author emphasizes that the objectivity of ranking is often illusory and subject to manipulation. Yet, most rankings, whether based on human opinion or computer algorithms, are far for being random, therefore they capture some element of reality."" -- Andr�s Schubert, International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics Newsletter ""Ranking -- of buildings, cities, persons, achievements, institutions or anything else, this listmania might seem to be the brainchild of our computer age. No, teaches us P�ter �rdi, it is more ancient than mankind and is rooted in the process of evolution. This book, written in an informal style making an easy and entertaining reading, summarizes the history, sociology, use and abuse of ranking showing also its logical and ethical snags. The author expounds the questions but, instead of giving straight answers, he rather ponders the problems. That is how he compels his readers to think and opine."" -- Robert Schiller, Term�szet Vil�ga ""Written by the cybernetician Peter Erdi, [the book] masters to combine cognitive insights about the why and how rankings are so important in natural (and probably also artificial) societies with the wide-spectrum phenomenon called the ""ranking game"": a game (sometimes a zero-sum one) shaped by the societal evolution and investing themes and arguments ranging from social psychology to computer science and from network theory to political science and cultural (self) organization. The book is engaging, easily readable and presents with clear and simple words (it is not only directed to scientists but to the general public) such a game by exploring, in its nine chapters, each of its multifaceted dimensions."" -- Cognitive Systems Research"

""An informative and amusing book. The author collected a treasury of stories and reflections connected with comparison, rating and ranking from the widest possible area of sports, arts, sciences, politics, media and shopping, just to mention a few. The book's main concern is not how to rank, but rather how and in what extent ranking can be avoided."" -- Scientometrics ""P�ter �rdi's book was not a risk-free venture. It deserves a lot of success, since it has a large literary immersion, but does not hide the opinions of others."" -- Magyar Tudom�ny ""Drawing upon a remarkable range of disciplines, field studies, and historical insights, �rdi expertly reveals the hidden social and cognitive dynamics that inform our never-ending hunger to assign metrics to social life. With great nuance and a keen eye for detail, �rdi takes us through how supposedly straightforward processes of measurement, comparison, prioritization, and reputation management are fraught with bias and complex hidden social values. Ranking is an analytical tour-de-force and a joy to read, going straight to the top of my list of indispensable works on social hierarchy."" -- Alexander Cooley, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University ""As my grandmother used to say, if your actions are based on comparisons with others, you'll never enjoy life. But as Ranking shows -- with lucid examples from practically every sphere of human endeavor -- we humans can't help but compare ourselves to others. So who's the best at revealing the principles and mechanisms that underpin the ubiquitous tendency to compare? The pantomathic P�ter �rdi, that's who! �rdi's book, written with insight and humor, is a delightful read. I learned a lot from it, as will any individual or organization interested in this enduring aspect of the human condition-in comparing better and choosing wisely."" -- - J. A. Scott Kelso, Glenwood and Martha Creech Eminent Scholar in Science, Florida Atlantic University; Professor Emeritus of Computational Neuroscience, Ulster University ""Most parents know their children are above average-sure proof of the subjectivity of ratings. With a light touch, combining personal experience, findings from biology and sociology and more, and with witty asides, P�ter �rdi explains why Top 10 Lists fascinate us, and how to temper subjectivity with hard data when ratings and rankings truly matter."" -- Michael Arbib, Author and Editor of more than forty books, from his pioneering Brains, Machines, and Mathematics to How the Brain Got Language: The Mirror System Hypothesis ""Rankings are essential in our lives-they determine the education we receive, the jobs we qualify for, the books we read, and the music we listen to. In Ranking, P�ter �rdi's vivid prose brings us the science of rankings. Using examples from politics to culture, he shows how these patterns determine who wins and who loses the ranking game."" -- Albert-L�szl� Barab�si, Professor of Network Science, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School; author of The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success ""Peter �rdi's recent, science-based, but still highly personal book titled Ranking is a must-read to everyone who wishes to avoid being overly depressed by some unfavorable ranking result. First, a bit of humor always helps accept harsh reality. Second, and much more important, the reader will certainly sharpen her or his skills to find specific reasons in any ranking system to prove that the methodology leading to the unwelcome final result is totally unjust. And finally, the book helps develop an increased tolerance toward the fact that the unjust ranking methods are still widely used to aid decision making."" -- Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis ""Ultimately, [Ranking] is a call to think more critically about objectivity and subjectivity in a society where we are so invested in ranking everything from colleges to job performances, sport teams, and tourist attractions."" -- Choice ""The author emphasizes that the objectivity of ranking is often illusory and subject to manipulation. Yet, most rankings, whether based on human opinion or computer algorithms, are far for being random, therefore they capture some element of reality."" -- Andr�s Schubert, International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics Newsletter ""Ranking -- of buildings, cities, persons, achievements, institutions or anything else, this listmania might seem to be the brainchild of our computer age. No, teaches us P�ter �rdi, it is more ancient than mankind and is rooted in the process of evolution. This book, written in an informal style making an easy and entertaining reading, summarizes the history, sociology, use and abuse of ranking showing also its logical and ethical snags. The author expounds the questions but, instead of giving straight answers, he rather ponders the problems. That is how he compels his readers to think and opine."" -- Robert Schiller, Term�szet Vil�ga ""Written by the cybernetician Peter Erdi, [the book] masters to combine cognitive insights about the why and how rankings are so important in natural (and probably also artificial) societies with the wide-spectrum phenomenon called the ""ranking game"": a game (sometimes a zero-sum one) shaped by the societal evolution and investing themes and arguments ranging from social psychology to computer science and from network theory to political science and cultural (self) organization. The book is engaging, easily readable and presents with clear and simple words (it is not only directed to scientists but to the general public) such a game by exploring, in its nine chapters, each of its multifaceted dimensions."" -- Cognitive Systems Research

An informative and amusing book. The author collected a treasury of stories and reflections connected with comparison, rating and ranking from the widest possible area of sports, arts, sciences, politics, media and shopping, just to mention a few. The book's main concern is not how to rank, but rather how and in what extent ranking can be avoided. -- Scientometrics P ter rdi's book was not a risk-free venture. It deserves a lot of success, since it has a large literary immersion, but does not hide the opinions of others. -- Magyar Tudom ny Drawing upon a remarkable range of disciplines, field studies, and historical insights, rdi expertly reveals the hidden social and cognitive dynamics that inform our never-ending hunger to assign metrics to social life. With great nuance and a keen eye for detail, rdi takes us through how supposedly straightforward processes of measurement, comparison, prioritization, and reputation management are fraught with bias and complex hidden social values. Ranking is an analytical tour-de-force and a joy to read, going straight to the top of my list of indispensable works on social hierarchy. -- Alexander Cooley, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University As my grandmother used to say, if your actions are based on comparisons with others, you'll never enjoy life. But as Ranking shows -- with lucid examples from practically every sphere of human endeavor -- we humans can't help but compare ourselves to others. So who's the best at revealing the principles and mechanisms that underpin the ubiquitous tendency to compare? The pantomathic P ter rdi, that's who! rdi's book, written with insight and humor, is a delightful read. I learned a lot from it, as will any individual or organization interested in this enduring aspect of the human condition-in comparing better and choosing wisely. -- - J. A. Scott Kelso, Glenwood and Martha Creech Eminent Scholar in Science, Florida Atlantic University; Professor Emeritus of Computational Neuroscience, Ulster University Most parents know their children are above average-sure proof of the subjectivity of ratings. With a light touch, combining personal experience, findings from biology and sociology and more, and with witty asides, P ter rdi explains why Top 10 Lists fascinate us, and how to temper subjectivity with hard data when ratings and rankings truly matter. -- Michael Arbib, Author and Editor of more than forty books, from his pioneering Brains, Machines, and Mathematics to How the Brain Got Language: The Mirror System Hypothesis Rankings are essential in our lives-they determine the education we receive, the jobs we qualify for, the books we read, and the music we listen to. In Ranking, P ter rdi's vivid prose brings us the science of rankings. Using examples from politics to culture, he shows how these patterns determine who wins and who loses the ranking game. -- Albert-L szl Barab si, Professor of Network Science, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School; author of The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success Peter rdi's recent, science-based, but still highly personal book titled Ranking is a must-read to everyone who wishes to avoid being overly depressed by some unfavorable ranking result. First, a bit of humor always helps accept harsh reality. Second, and much more important, the reader will certainly sharpen her or his skills to find specific reasons in any ranking system to prove that the methodology leading to the unwelcome final result is totally unjust. And finally, the book helps develop an increased tolerance toward the fact that the unjust ranking methods are still widely used to aid decision making. -- Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis Ultimately, [Ranking] is a call to think more critically about objectivity and subjectivity in a society where we are so invested in ranking everything from colleges to job performances, sport teams, and tourist attractions. -- Choice The author emphasizes that the objectivity of ranking is often illusory and subject to manipulation. Yet, most rankings, whether based on human opinion or computer algorithms, are far for being random, therefore they capture some element of reality. -- Andr s Schubert, International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics Newsletter Ranking -- of buildings, cities, persons, achievements, institutions or anything else, this listmania might seem to be the brainchild of our computer age. No, teaches us P ter rdi, it is more ancient than mankind and is rooted in the process of evolution. This book, written in an informal style making an easy and entertaining reading, summarizes the history, sociology, use and abuse of ranking showing also its logical and ethical snags. The author expounds the questions but, instead of giving straight answers, he rather ponders the problems. That is how he compels his readers to think and opine. -- Robert Schiller, Term szet Vil ga Written by the cybernetician Peter Erdi, [the book] masters to combine cognitive insights about the why and how rankings are so important in natural (and probably also artificial) societies with the wide-spectrum phenomenon called the ranking game : a game (sometimes a zero-sum one) shaped by the societal evolution and investing themes and arguments ranging from social psychology to computer science and from network theory to political science and cultural (self) organization. The book is engaging, easily readable and presents with clear and simple words (it is not only directed to scientists but to the general public) such a game by exploring, in its nine chapters, each of its multifaceted dimensions. -- Cognitive Systems Research

Author Information

Dr. �rdi serves as the Henry R. Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies at Kalamazoo College. He is also a research professor in his home town, in Budapest, at the Wigner Research Centre of Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In addition, he is the founding co-director of the Budapest Semester in Cognitive Science, a study abroad program. P�ter is a Member of the Board of Governors of the International Neural Network Society, the past Vice President of Membership of the International Neural Network Society, and the Editor-in-Chief of Cognitive Systems Research.

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