Monday, January 30, 2023

A Little Review Of My Recent Read "The Book Of Why" By Judea Pearl


I am reading "the book of why" by Judea Pearl these days that i have bought from Karachi .Actually i was struck by it's name instantly and i think anyone with curious mind might have have reacted similarly who is interested to learn "what causes what and why?)  
But opposite to my expectation book had topic which i was less interested or you can say that i consider myself  a beginner for such complicated and intense topic which offers much technical details and terms. I know you must be thinking that i should have read the reviews page before buying it actually i did but i probably was led by own optimistic intuition while reading reviews on the back of last page and i could not ponder further than what words told ,i took the meaning what i wanted to hear. 



 But i can't say i found it complete " loss " of money and my time i give it to read . As a person who loves everything about life cannot disappoint with any kind of learning that "add" to her knowledge some how .

So despite the little shock i felt at the beginning i found this book worth reading specially for those who hardly liked math ,statistics and measurements of  various phenomena such as affects of pandemics , factors affecting human health like obesity of cholesterol etc.

Author explains expertly how old statistician used numbers and grids to measure and reveal causal effects in early 19th century. Scientists of that era wanted to understand heredity and genetics but they did know know how these things worked .Then statisticians like karl  Pearson  and Francis Galton concluded that it was not possible to determine causality with scientific means alone. They believed that as you collect data  come to rely   on data as  a way to get closer to the truth and interpret it correctly then we can answer the question science pose( that has no bias) In scientific research questions cannot be answered with data solely because questions have context along either .Causal inference is very helpful in such research because  it is higher level of human thinking. Human are capable of three level of thinking and reasoning which are sometimes called " ladder of causation "
 First level sees and observe changes in pattern and draw conclusions on the base of associations so do animals and artificial intelligence. 

The second level is to recognize the factors behind it and then draw conclusions that can interfere the process of usual function .

Third at level is " Imagination "what places modern human better than cavemen and other animals. Thinking of future ,creating alternate such as a prosecutor can say during preceding in the court room that without firing without firing a gun that man wouldn't be  not killed .

Though author has  shown  another example for third level of human intelligence  (which he settled as ladder of causation ) but I will use words and a photo from his book only that how human imagination can help science to figure out more precise conclusions. 


Sorry for the blurred photo as power is gone and battery does not provide bright light. This is the simplest form of the diagram that author has used to measure the casualty. According to him if z is Alarm why is alarm and y is smoke then fire is third variable though irrelevant to alarm directly but confounder of the fire. 
To solve more complicated scientific matters it is necessary to causal inference lead the science discoveries and walk along otherwise it will be impossible to traditional statisticians to analize alone.

To process through these three levels writer has used three ladders and each ladder or level to analyze data is discussed with coherent previous analyzation which did not feel burden once i tried to keep in mind previous points writer has been mentioning throughout chapters , yes i repeated what i could not get though i can't claim i learned fully the point writer made here but as whole i think i could extract bit of it.
Due to shortage of time for posting i had to take help from online summery so i can put my words in short and accurate way  so i must not bore you with my lame vocabulary and longer sentences lol 

Thank you soo much for bearing with me kind friends! 
health peace and joy to all of you and to all you love!

26 comments:

  1. That book would be too complicated for me!

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    1. Dear Debra I share your leaning on creative side as a poet but I believe you have far stronger mind than me so I claim if you will read it. Your understanding will be deeper than mine

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  2. This one really give you a lot to think on, and might be one you want to read more than once too. Thanks so much for your soulful review💗

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    1. Oh thanks for sweet words dear Ellie.
      Along with the specific knowledge book of why has made me familiar with old and new ways of analyzing data of various things on social and individual levels.and how scientific research needs help of causal inference to provide reliable answers.
      On the extra positive note from the third ladder of causation or third level of human intelligence writer has given me bit hope that "imagination" that I have lot" is something useful and can provide great support to build a better perspective for brighter future

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  3. Everything is like a row of dominoes.

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    1. Seems "dominoes have need to be more self Awre :)

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  4. I don’t think I could understand that one, Baili.

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    1. If you are not fan of math and statistics dear Marie then it can be task to take grasp of it indeed

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  5. It sounds like you would have to pay attention and concentrate to get much out if this story. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Dear Red so true about the paying more (attention "
      Honestly I am quite dull when it comes to understand mathematical and statistical terms and math used to be nightmare for me as school gilr.
      With time now I see that math and science speak univasal language and people having capa to understand this language are superior in term of intelligence. So though q late but I am here finally trying to unlock my brain if I have one lol
      So yes if learning of the kind this book offers could not grasp fully by my weak mood ND, struggle to manage attention part was positive part of this reading :)

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  6. I also have read books that I didn't really enjoy. I did it simply because I like to read. I usually come away having learned something.

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    1. Dear Emma I agree that every perception of every writer can deliver some wisdom to us, totally depends on the level of desire for learning :)

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  7. Hi. I want to thank you so much for your prayers and blessings and for just being the nice person that you are. I so appreciate you. Have lovely day.

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    1. Precious friend Nicole
      Friends are for support and holding hands when we need. I can understand whet you might be going through because of the health issues and all I can do is to send you lots and lots of healing energy to make you realize that you are not alone in this and your family and blogger family is with you as well!

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  8. Glad you stuck with the book, Baili, as in all honesty I would not have done so myself, but then this book would not have appealed to me. While I am trying to read more non-fiction works this year, ones dealing with science or thought processes are not in that group. That may be a failing on my part I admit but if a book holds no interest then trying to stay focused would be difficult.

    I hope your sciatica pain is more manageable and that you obtained some relief.

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  9. Thanks dear Dorothy yes my backache was gone long before.
    I agree that if boo does not appeal to certain Interest focusing on it can be a problem but I think since I am aware that avoiding maths was probably my weakness to not accept the challenge actually, I am curious to know limits of my mental capacity specially regarding "focus" so tough subject appeal me now because they force me to concentrate

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  10. Many thanks for sharing this book, it's not one that I would read ...

    Wishing you a good month of February.

    All the best Jan

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  11. Obviously dear Jan we all have different choices :)

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  12. Sounds like quite an in-depth book to read, dear friend! I'm sorry too that it didn't offer more reasonable offerings for why things happen. Blessings to you dear friend!

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  13. I think I could get twenty to thir percent of the book dear Marilyn.
    It's difficult subject taught me how to strengthen my focus
    Thirdly I learned that reading reviews of only is not enough for the selection of the books

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  14. Hi, Baili! Thanks for your candid review of this book. I, too, have brought books home and have been unable to finish them. One is Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." I've had this book a long time and have started it several times. I think my problem is that my mind isn't grasping his revelations about black holes. So I've bough more books to understand and haven't gotten through them either. LOL ~ I'll get there. I love your hunger to learn and understand, my smart friend! You are an inspiration! Love and hugs to you!

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  15. dear Louise thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me with your uplifting comments always ! you are like a lovely cloud for me indeed :)))
    if i remember i too have bought this book of Stephen Hawking but haven't started it yet due to lack of time ,probably longer days will give me to read them , i will share with you my tiny poor knowledge if i could grasp anything my dear friend :) and promise you will do the same :)

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