Ranking : the unwritten rules of the social game we all play /

Rankings surround us at home and at work as we rank, use rankings, and are ranked ourselves. But, as Érdi (Kalamazoo College) finds, ranking is more complex than it appears. He discusses how rankings take place, how one uses rankings, how algorithms are written, and what rankings mean. Ultimately, his book 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. Using countless ranking and rating examples, Érdi argues that we cannot live without rankings, which are highly subjective to cognitive biases, and can only make our best effort to make them objective. The implications here are particularly relevant as many people are constantly consumed by numbers of likes on social media, ratings of restaurants to visit, or evaluations by our peers and superiors at work. As Érdi writes, "comparison is very human," though he also advises that one accept rankings with a grain of salt. Identifying some objective truth reflected in rankings and "[balancing] reputation, external success, and internal peace," he concludes, are the keys to successfully living with rankings (p. 210). Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty. --Yuya Kiuchi, Michigan State University