Name: Humans are Underrated
Rating: 4.3 (13 reviews)
Author: Geoff Colvin

What’s in it for me? Learn what differentiates you from a computer.

It’s no surprise to anyone that computers are getting smarter. But exactly how much smarter? Smarter than you? No, you might think. And you might very well be right. But what happens when computers start detecting human emotions? And are you quite sure that an emotionally enabled computer wouldn’t kick your ass if you were to battle in the art of storytelling?

Well, these blinks introduce you to some important advances that computers have made in recent decades. And they are not insignificant. However, you’ll also learn about those human skills that, as the title implies, do not even compare to – or cannot be substituted by – those of a computer. Because humans are indeed underrated.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

what the “Love Machine” is all about;
how a computer is able to detect your emotions;
why spending hours and hours in front of a screen is a very bad idea; and
who is more likely to win the storytelling battle – humans or computers.

Don’t compare yourself to a computer, because you will lose.

Wouldn’t it be nice to increase your brain power by 100 percent every two years? Impossible, you say.

But not for computers.

According to Moore’s law, IT systems increase their computing power by 100 percent every two years. In the long run, that’s a big increase. For example, Sony’s first transistor radio had five transistors and would barely fit into a pocket. Today, Intel’s latest processor has five billion transistors and it fits in the palm of your hand.

So, will computers become infinitely powerful?

Not quite. Eventually Moore’s law will end due to sheer physical limitations: you can only fit a finite number of transistors in a certain space. But until that time, you’d better not compare your brain power to a computer.

In fact, nowadays computers can surpass us in tasks we usually think are uniquely human.

For example, computers can detect emotions more effectively than humans. Paul Ekman, a famous psychologist, discovered micro-expressions: the minimal movements in your 40 facial muscles that lead to certain expressions. After many years of research, Ekman figured out which of 3,000 different micro-expressions is connected to which emotion. The result is his Facial Action Coding System.

This is how it works: If you put all this emotional data into a computer equipped with a camera, and point it at a human face, the computer can correctly detect the emotion 85 percent of the time. Whereas humans, even with training, got it right only 55 percent of the time!

Humans will always require the skill of empathy.

Have you ever had a bad experience with a call-center person? It’s partly because they typically have to follow rigid scripts instead of having genuine empathy for your problem.

We find this irritating because empathy is a basic element for every relationship – even in business.

A good story is more convincing than logic.

We’ve all left the cinema after experiencing a movie with a great plot that has moved us to tears.

But did you know that if you can tell a good story like that, you’ll find it’s more convincing for people than a purely logical argument – and can change millions of lives?

Harness the power of computers to boost your knowledge and social skills.

As you’ve seen in these blinks, humans are still superior to computers in many areas. But it gets even better: computers can also help us to excel.

Take education, for instance: it turns out that learning at a computer is more effective than learning in a crowded classroom.

Key ideas in Humans are Underrated

What is Humans are Underrated about?

How is the rapidly developing world of computers going to affect our jobs in the future? In Humans Are Underrated (2015), Geoff Colvin explores the ways in which computers will surpass us, and the ways they won’t. He reveals which skills you should build to remain economically viable, and how you can turn the monster of technology to your advantage.