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Superforecasting

the Art and Science of Prediction
Sep 29, 2015gendeg rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Back in 2011, the research agency, IARPA, set up a series of forecasting tournaments in an effort to distill down best practices. This wasn’t a tournament to guess the weather or something seemingly trivial. This was a contest to predict events on a global scale, questions with geopolitical import, like what would happen in Syria or N. Korea. Teams in the tournament were given reams of questions by IARPA and over time the accuracy of their answers was recorded and assessed. Author Philip Tetlock led the winning team in that tournament. Called “Good Judgment Project,” Tetlock’s team outclassed the competition with consistently reliable estimates of events. How did they do it? Superforecasting is a book that dismantles what forms an effective strategy for making predictions and offers a road map for better policymaking and geo-political wrangling. Tetlock’s book is wonderfully readable and accessible, and I think that it will appeal to everyone from data nerds to the average reader looking for a ‘gee-whiz’ kind of read. I also think it’s a very important book. Forecasting isn’t some niche science. It’s an important part of formulating public policy responses, conducting foreign affairs and military action, and making financial and economic decisions. Getting it wrong is costly, and everyone is affected. Let’s start getting it right. Math-y talk and quantitative discussions are simply presented. Tetlock recounts the evidence and offers a view that nicely reflects or fits that evidence. Tetlock also provides personal stories of the individual superforecasters, and so the writing has a strong story-centric rhythm. The “Ten Commandments for Aspiring Superforecasters” at the back of the book was a fun addition/primer.