Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive

Before I started reading "Liars and Outliars" I had never given much thought to the topic of trust in society. Of course, I had thought about security, but mainly from a technical standpoint: how to use it to secure myself and ourselves against threats from the outside. This book has taugt me how trust and security belong together and how the latter can be used to fill up the gaps that result from lacking the former. This book stands out, because both of its well-researched models and theories and because of its practicality: each of the main ideas is larded with examples that make understanding the presented ideas really easy. This book is divided in four parts. In the first part Schneier brings the reader up to par with the current state of the 'science of trust', as he calls it. In these chapters he talks about the way human beings and some animals cooperate, how cooperation developed in their respective species, what altruism is, and what a society is. This first section of the book ends with an interesting set of societal dilemmas and - most importantly - a framework by which each of these dilemmas can be understood. In this framework Schneier puts the societal (or group) interest over against the interest of the party (or person) that wants to defect. Part two of the book presents four pressures influencing every societal dilemma, namely societal, moral, reputational and institutional. Each one of these parts of this model of trust is described in detail and explained through examples. This part of the book ends with an overview of the topic of security and how it relates towards these pressures. In this chapter, Schneier shows once again how good and well-balanced security is necessary to counterbalance the different forms of trust. He also describes how security influences each of the four pressures. The first two parts of the book are quite theoretical and systemic, but legible and understandable nevertheless. In the third section Schneier takes his models into the real world, to see how they fit in. He does so from the perspective of competing interests within organizations (each group of people), corporations (different from individual people because they're no people with personal interests), and institutions (governmental groups, with their particular interests). What has kept with me after reading these chapters is that each 'society' has its own interests and that these interests do not always fit in with the interests of others. I believe that dissecting societal dilemmas through Schneier's model of trust really helps to gain a fuller understanding of the weight and content of the forces at work. The fourth and final part of the book contains three chapters with conclusions. For some part, these chapters are a repetition of the previous chapters. They contain, however, a kind of counterbalance to the well-reasoned and rational model of trust Schneier presented, because of the concept of the human psychology that sometimes gives us the desire to do things that are not so reasonable. Moreover, he describes some of the technological advances that have been made and will be made, and - more importantly - how both cooperators and defectors make use of technology. This section also holds a fiery speech in favor of well-reasoned, community-based, transparant, and general forms of security technology. In his last chapter Schneier once again makes sure that we understand that security is not something do once and then forget, it's a process that needs to be readjusted all the time. It's also important to keep in mind that society both needs cooperators and defectors (or outliers), since the latter group is able to foster innovation, that can be used to improve society for all of us.

I've followed Bruce's work for many years, so I had a good idea of what to expect from his latest work. It does not disappoint. Covering the evolution of security mechanisms, from the very small scale of a few personal friends up to the global institutions to which we trust much of our lives, Bruce examines in depth how we choose whether to trust or distrust other people and organisations, and how we decide how much regulation and technology is required to keep enough of them trustworthy enough for our societies to function. As a reader of Bruce's blog on schneier,com, I thought I would be reading things I'd already learnt, but I was wrong. There's a lot of new stuff here, and perhaps the best and most-lasting aspect is the presentation of a structure and language for talking about trust - I find I'm using the terms from Liars and Outliers intuitively any time I think about security. There's a good exposition of how our security systems fail, and what must be done to avoid such failures, which I think makes it essential reading for any company director or politician. You need two copies of this book - one to keep on your shelf to read, and re-read, and one to give to your (least-) favourite policymaker.

For the sake of full disclosure, I should acknowledge that I'm a big fan of Bruce Schneier; I think Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World is one of the best books that I've ever read and I also subscribe to Schneier's Cryto-Gram newsletter. I must also concede that I've an interest in the topics of altruism, cooperation, and trust in society as will many who have been exposed to the works of luminaries such as Richard Dawkins and Robert Trivers. So, I had great expectations for Liars & Outliers. However, Schneier's exposition on "the trust that society needs to thrive" left me a little disappointed. My problem with this book is that it is a straightforward (albeit, excellent) exposition on trust & cooperation; nothing more. There is no radical manifesto describing how society might better blend its cooperative instinct with technology to achieve the optimum balance of cooperation and defection; thus, it's not clear what this work adds to the subject's body of knowledge. This shortcoming is redeemed by Schneier's easy style and comprehensive coverage of the topics one expects (The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Hawk/Dove Model, and The Red Queen Effect). Moreover, Schneier explores in some depth the societal pressures that help to maintain defection at tolerable levels and considers how technology both helps and hinders society's effort to maintain cooperation. It is this, perhaps, that differentiates this book from others that address the same issues and makes it worth reading. Furthermore, the material is well researched and comprehensively referenced throughout and delivered with Schneier's trademark clarity. Whilst it may lack a certain novelty, the subject is lucidly presented and accessible: I can think of no more comprehensive introduction to the subject than Liars & Outliers - certainly, a good place to start.

the way Bruce presents the dilemmas that lie behind every single aspect of our lives is just brilliant. Quite cold and rational writing style -but still way more readable than what one gets often to read in the security spheres. Recommended for pretty much anyone willing to kill a few thousand neurons trying to understand why people act like they do, instead of just defaulting to black-and-white, good-and-bad-guy answer

Schneier ist Kult, und zwar nicht nur, weil er eine sehr differenzierte Meinung zu vielen Sicherheitsfragen hat und diese - auch ausserhalb seines lesenswerten Blogs "Cryptogram" - auch kundtut. Vielmehr zeigt Schneier über seine Sachlichkeit eine Integrität, die an anderer Stelle in der Hitze der Debatte leider oft fehlt. Wie ein Vor-Rezensent es sinngemäss formuliert hat: "Es ist selten, dass Schneier nichts interessantes zu sagen hat." - und das gilt unabhängig davon, welcher politischen Strömung man in Bezug auf eine aktuelle Frage anhängt. Auf dem Umschlag das Zitat zur Person: "Das, was in der Security-Industrie einem Rockstar am nächsten kommt." Das spiegelt sowohl die positiven als auch die negativen Aspekte dieses Buchs wieder. Als Rockstar kommt er überall an - das Buch ist lesbar, sehr verständlich und gut strukturiert. Das erreicht er aber, wie bei seinen vorherigen Publikationen auch, durch sehr ausführliche Schilderungen und teilweise ermüdende Wiederholungen. Meiner Meinung nach wäre das Thema passender in einem konzisen 50 Seiten-Papier abgehandelt worden als in Buchform. Dennoch, die Darstellung des Vertrauensproblems, die von Schneier vorgenommene Strukturierung desselben und die Einbeziehung diverser, teilweise unvorhergesehener Rahmenparameter machen das Buch erwartungsgemäss lesenswert - wie immer bei Schneier: eine interessante Sicht auf die Dinge. Wobei dem potentiellen Leser klar sein muss: das Buch ist eher analytischer Natur als dass es Lösungen aufzeigt, und das ist dem Thema auch angemessen. Auch das eine Kernaussage des Buches: ohne umfassendes Problemverständnis muss jeder Lösungsansatz scheitern; und dieses Buch agiert eindeutig auf der Problemverständnis-Seite. Ein Stern Abzug wegen der erwähnten Überlänge und Wiederholung - dennoch inhaltlich top und klare Kaufempfehlung.

This is a superb book. First, it's immensely readable and filled with an incredible amount of information about how societies evolved and work (and why not). More importantly, however, Bruce has identified what is probably the most important issue facing all of us today. Trust. Without trust, society doesn't work. But look around: we don't trust the government, we don't trust big business, and we don't trust banks or anyone on Wall Street. (There's a much longer list, but you get the idea.) Our existing models of trust and mechanisms for dealing with defectors don't scale to either the size of the Internet or the flood of information that's so readily available. Once upon a time, perhaps in a fairy tale, we actually knew our elected representatives, and they counted on us to fund their election campaigns. Now it's PACs and SuperPACs and we're irrelevant. If your elected representative parties a bit too much while away from home, or too obviously is influenced by the hordes of lobbyists, or actually admits their ignorance in a committee meeting, you'll know about it instantly. Once upon a time, we were "protected" from that knowledge because it simply didn't deserve space in the newspaper and wasn't entertaining enough to for the local TV news. Otto von Bismarck observed that "laws are like sausages; it's better not to see them made." That sentiment also applies to lawmakers. In that same fairy tale, you worked your entire life for one company, then took your gold watch and retired to a life of leisure, supported by a retirement fund almost wholly funded by your employer. That is, unless your employer repaid your loyalty by "riffing" you or was so ineptly managed that the company eventually went bankrupt, taking your retirement income with it. Or perhaps you worked your entire life for a local government that "promised" generous pension benefits and lifetime healthcare. Unfortunately, the people who made those promises were never required to figure out how to pay for them, and the day of reckoning is now very near. And then there's the marvelous fantasy about how the equity in your home will eventually fund your move to a tropical island. The folks on Wall Street have already spent your home equity on yachts and ski chalets and putting their kids through expensive colleges. I'd sure like to see the Presidential candidates debate this topic. Unfortunately, none of them would be the least bit credible. Read Bruce's book to find out whether our society can survive.

This is the first book I've read from Mr. Schneier. By the first few chapters, I could really tell he's got the gift of being able to choose the right words for his audience. Concepts about trust, societal dilemmas, basic economics, risks, tradeoffs and general security are explained well and reemphasized throughout the book. Societal pressures are talked about: moral, reputational, institutional, and security. He explains how these pressures work at different levels of society and how actors within societal groups are made to cooperate and remain cohesive with the larger group---and he also describes how societal groups can fall apart as a result of wrongly implemented societal pressures. I now have a greater understanding of the fundamentals that tie society together and keep it functional, safe and secure. The fundamental base is trust. If you have interests in security and sociology, then you're in for a fascinating read. If you're in any kind of security profession, a social researcher, a college student studying social sciences (or anything really), a corporate leader, or someone involved in public policy decisions: This book changes how you view the vibrant world that's before your eyes.

Schneier versteht es interessante Einsichten anschaulich darzustellen, leider hätte man den Inhalt der ca 240 Seiten auch ohne Verlust an Verständlichkeit auf 120 Seiten Unterbringen können. So ist es die Regel, dass in einem Absatz mit Hilfe eines Beispiels etwas neues eingeführt wird aber in den nachfolgenden 5 Absätzen keinerlei Mehrwert geschaffen wird. Ich weiß nicht genau was ich erwarte habe, aber mehr als eine solche Aneinanderreihung von Beispielen war es definitiv. Inhaltlich ist das Buch mit tollen und interessanten Einsichten gespickt und sofern man damit leben kann Absätze häufig nur quer zu lesen auch ein empfehlenswertes. Für mich ist der Schreibstil leider nichts gewesen.

Hallo Bruce Fans, das neue Buch von Bruce Schneier ist wie immer und Erwartungsgemäß hervorragend. Leider ist in der aktuellen Fassung des Buches des Quellenverzeichnis falsch gedruckt. Habe mich an den hilfreichen Kundenservice gewandt und werde informiert sobald die richtige Edition (Quellen okay) verfügbar sind.