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Galston Daniel Henninger Holman W. Jenkins Andy Kessler William McGurn Walter Russell Mead Peggy Noonan Mary Anastasia O'Grady Jason Riley Joseph Sternberg Kimberley A. Strassel More Editorials Commentary Future View Houses of Worship Cross Country Letters to the Editor The Weekend Interview Potomac Watch Podcast Foreign Edition Podcast Free Expression Podcast Opinion Video Notable & Quotable * Arts & Culture Topics Books Film Fine Art Food & Cooking History Music Television Theater Reviews Film Reviews Television Reviews Theater Reviews Masterpiece Series Music Reviews Dance Reviews Opera Reviews Exhibition Reviews Cultural Commentary More WSJ Puzzles What To Watch Arts Calendar * Lifestyle Topics Careers Cars Fitness Relationships Travel Workplace More On Wine Work & Life Carry On On The Clock Elizabeth Bernstein Turning Points WSJ Puzzles Recipes * Real Estate Topics Commercial Real Estate Luxury Homes * Personal Finance Topics Retirement Savings Credit Taxes Mortgages More Jason Zweig Laura Saunders James Mackintosh * Health Topics Healthcare Pharma Wellness More Your Health * Science Topics Archaeology Biology Environment Physics Space & Astronomy More The Future of Everything * Style Topics Beauty Design Fashion More Off Brand On Trend My Monday Morning * Sports Topics Baseball Basketball Football Golf Hockey Olympics Soccer Tennis More Jason Gay WSJ Logo 'Optimal Illusions' Review: Efficient to a Fault Share Resize --------------------------------------------------------------------- Listen (3 min) BEST OFBooks & Arts in Review The Best Reading for Summer'Be Mine' ReviewThe Best Books of August 'Orwell' Review 'The Individualists' Review This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/ optimal-illusions-review-efficient-to-a-fault-1fe78078 1. Arts & Culture ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Books ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Bookshelf 'Optimal Illusions' Review: Efficient to a Fault A mathematician makes the case that our obsession with data and algorithms leads us to miss the bigger picture. By Marc Levinson Sept. 17, 2023 2:46 pm ET Share Resize --------------------------------------------------------------------- Listen (3 min) image Photo: Alamy Stock Photo The logistics business is a creature of mathematics. Algorithms dictate the most efficient plan for unloading boxes from a container ship, stacking them in a freight yard, managing the truck fleets that transport them to distribution centers and delivering their contents to millions of households. Yet when international trade in goods surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, all those algorithms failed to keep supply chains from becoming seriously tangled. Their dictates, it seems, were no longer optimal. Copyright (c)2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 [wsj-logo-b] Continue reading your article with a WSJ subscription Subscribe Now Already a subscriber? 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All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c)2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.