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This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

wired.com

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Re: This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

#3

Post by dood »

This article needed a lot more info about the psychologist's approach to make it interesting, it was 90% background and the barest hint at the end about what he is actually doing. For all we know he may have just made minor tweaks to some existing algorithm.

Re: This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

#5

Post by hugh »

I've always known that science journalists don't know anything about science. I'm only now realizing that they don't know anything about journalism either.

They only know how to tell one story. That's the story of the underdog scientist who is (or more commonly, "might be about to") upsetting the stuffy old establishment. Everything that goes on in the scientific community has to be shoehorned into the storyline of "Dodgeball" or "The Mighty Ducks", or else they have no idea how to talk about it.

I was originally going to post this comment on the thread about the "surfer dude with theory of everything" article, but it fits here just as well.

Re: This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

#7

Post by daniel-cussen »

hugh wrote: post #5

I've always known that science journalists don't know anything about science. I'm only now realizing that they don't know anything about journalism either. They only know how to tell one story. That's the story of the underdog scientist who is (or more commonly, "might be about to") upsetting the stuffy old establishment. Everything that goes on in the scientific community has to be shoehorned into the storyline of "…

So true. It's like they got their ethos and values from Disney movies.

Re: This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

#8

Post by mixmax »

dood wrote: post #3

This article needed a lot more info about the psychologist's approach to make it interesting, it was 90% background and the barest hint at the end about what he is actually doing. For all we know he may have just made minor tweaks to some existing algorithm.

He mentions that he is inspired by Daniel Kahnemann, who has done work in behavioral economics. He won a nobel prize in 2002 that can be seen here: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2002/...

The lecture explains quite well what he does, and also gives a hint at what is being done in the netflix prize contest.

Re: This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

#9

Post by food79 »

aston wrote: post #2

Kills me how fast WIRED postings make it in. We start discussing articles before I even get to read them in the real magazine :(

Wired and Reddit are part of the same media conglomerate, so that explains how the wired articles get on Reddit. I think a lot of n.yc readers read reddit, so that is how they get here so fast I bet.

Re: This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

#10

Post by mdemare »

dood wrote: post #3

This article needed a lot more info about the psychologist's approach to make it interesting, it was 90% background and the barest hint at the end about what he is actually doing. For all we know he may have just made minor tweaks to some existing algorithm.

Exactly. I mean, who cares about what Netflix' headquarters look like? Or what university his daughter goes to? Sometimes it feel like these journalists are just filling in a template.
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