How should you spend your time? Whom should you marry? Where should you live? For centuries, people have relied on their instincts (本能) to figure out the answers to these questions. Now, we can use the big data to help determine the best course to chart.

Researchers have collected data on various kinds of choices people make, the information they base those choices on, and how things turn out. They have found that a simple data-driven algorithm (算法) would have been better than judges at deciding whether a defendant should stay in jail or be released and better than school principals at deciding which teachers should be promoted. Baseball teams found that algorithms were better than coaches at picking players and strategies. Tech firms in Silicon Valley have found that data from experiments provides better insights into how to design their websites than designers could.

But do statistics have similar impact on our making decisions in personal lives? Yes. The largest of experience sampling projects, Mappiness, has collected more than 3 million data points. It has revealed the activities that provide far more joy than most of us would have guessed, such as exercising, going to a museum and gardening, and the things that give us less pleasure such as playing video games, watching TV program and surfing the internet.

One study by 86 researchers collected information on more than 11,000 romantic couples. They used machine learning models to understand what predicts romantic satisfaction. They found many highly desired traits, such as a partner’s attractiveness and height, have just no connection with long-term happiness. Instead the qualities such as having a “growth mindset”, or a secure attachment style are most predictive of romantic satisfaction.

I am not claiming that we can completely outsource (外包) our lifestyle choices to algorithms, though we might get to that point in the future. I am claiming instead that we can all dramatically improve our decision- making by consulting evidence obtained from thousands or millions of people who faced dilemmas similar to ours.

Have you ever forgotten to lock the door of your house? Or, have you ever forgotten to switch off the TV or computer? 【小题1】, and can sometimes lead to problems. However, in the not-too-distant future, we will be living in smart homes that will help solve those problems.

Intelligent controls

Today, we have to use switches for your lights, and remote controls for our TVs and air conditioners. In the future, we will be using advanced technology every day for automatic control of just about everything in our home. You will no longer have to think about turning switches on and off yourself. 【小题2】, so everything will be ready for you.

Regular Health Checks

In addition, your smart home will be monitoring your health for you every day. Your bed, for example, will record how well you sleep every night. 【小题3】. If you start to have sleep or weight problems, it will send a warning to your phone. It will also give you suggestions on a healthier diet and how to sleep better.

No more disasters

【小题4】. For example, if a water pipe starts leaking, or if there is a short in the electrical wiring, your smart home will detect it and provide you with the relevant information. This way, you will be able to fix the problem before your home becomes flooded or catches fire.

This smart technology is not a fantasy. 【小题5】 and being used in some homes. In this sense, the home of tomorrow is already the home of today. Nevertheless, it will take some years, before most new homes begin to use this new technology.

Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in for an unwelcome surprise. The car is filled with a remote immobilizer and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.

The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the control center to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted.

In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed,” says Martyn Randall, a security expert. He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a minimum of tools, but only if the car is more than 10 years old.

Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition(点火) key. In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.

But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting hold of the owner’s keys. And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system.

If the car travels 100 meters without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operation center that it has been stolen. The hundred meters minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal.

Staff at the center will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing and keep police informed of the vehicle’s movements via the car’s GPS unit.