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They've got your number

Whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, Big Brother is crunching you. And in our digitally propelled universe, you really can't hide—your preferences and predilections, how you vote, shop, read, travel, make a date, pick a mate, choose a movie or a rental car are quantifiable from the data trail you leave on your computer, cell phone, credit card and more. Just who is analyzing what is all laid out in Stephen Baker's own very accessible analysis, The Numerati, narrated with smooth, understated understanding by Paul Michael Garcia. There's an almost bottomless sea of data out there—in one month, Yahoo, for example, accumulates 110 billion pieces of information about its customers—useless unless people with the right smarts can summon meaning from it. The numerati (mathematicians, statisticians and computer scientists) have those smarts, and by collaborating with all sorts of experts in other fields, are beginning to make the first predictive models of humanity. How it impacts us now and how it will increasingly impact and direct our future is a revelation; fascinating and a bit scary, but intelligence from the edge of the cutting edge we all need.