FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Freakonomics

   
Author Topic: Freakonomics
Raymond Arnold
Member
Member # 11712

 - posted      Profile for Raymond Arnold   Email Raymond Arnold         Edit/Delete Post 
I saw this book on sale (specifically a buy 1 get 1 50% off, and I was already buying one) and I remembered hearing a lot about it and I went and got it. But I also remember hearing vague things about either inaccuracies or biases that the book had that you had to watch out for.

I'm halfway through the book. The authors do obviously have certain biases, but those biases mostly seem to be based on actual research and aren't necessarily a bad thing.

Anyone have thoughts on things I should watch out for and/or things that they particularly liked?

Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Samprimary
Member
Member # 8561

 - posted      Profile for Samprimary   Email Samprimary         Edit/Delete Post 
You'll like the book a lot as long as you don't start getting into the research that backs up many of its more controversial ideas. The book sacrifices accurate reporting in favor of sensationalism in some critical points; but I have to admit that it's still entertaining.

It's like a lesser proto-version of what Malcolm Gladwell's books would later start doing; popularizing and efficiently explaining fascinating things.

Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Raymond Arnold
Member
Member # 11712

 - posted      Profile for Raymond Arnold   Email Raymond Arnold         Edit/Delete Post 
Are the controversial things actually wrong, or just more complex than they make them seem?

It's certainly entertaining, but whenever I see entertaining ideas that are fun specifically BECAUSE of how logical and applicable they sound... having to constantly worry about whether they're bogus ruins the entertainment value.

Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Blayne Bradley
unregistered


 - posted            Edit/Delete Post 
Dunno, but the idea of supreme court legalizing abortion correlating with the next decades gradual decrease of crime rate (from the otherwise unborn urban poor who wuld grow into crime) seems to make sense.

I especially liked the article about that survey a guy did and ended up writing a book abut how crack drug dealers are basically indistinguishable from large corporations.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
rivka
Member
Member # 4859

 - posted      Profile for rivka   Email rivka         Edit/Delete Post 
Top-rated review on Goodreads.
Another review from GR.
GR review from a (former?) Hatracker.

Looking at the many friends of mine on GR who reviewed/rated it, people were most likely to rate it highly if they lacked a math/science background. To me, that's a red flag.

Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Blayne Bradley
unregistered


 - posted            Edit/Delete Post 
I have a math science background and found it interesting.
IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Orincoro
Member
Member # 8854

 - posted      Profile for Orincoro   Email Orincoro         Edit/Delete Post 
The book is pretty damned smarmy for my taste. I finally read it because it's listed in the State Department reading list. What it does say, it says with an unconscionable lack of humility- but despite the enormous ego present in the style of the book, it's totally impersonal in regards to the writers themselves. I much prefer Gladwell, who approaches the same sorts of subjects with a clear awareness of his need to establish his credibility with the reader. These guys act like they're Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in 1975, and it doesn't play.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Horza
New Member
Member # 12416

 - posted      Profile for Horza           Edit/Delete Post 
I think it's an interesting read. Unlike Gladwell, who is basically a translator of cool ideas to a general audience, the authors are, to a degree, originators of the ideas (at least Levitt is, anyway).

That being said, they are contrarians and definitely err on the side of sensationalism over sober analysis. If the direction of their contrarianism accords with your world view, then this is not a problem. I can't recall being irritated with them in Freakonomics. However, I found the chapter on global warming in the second to be something of a travesty.

Posts: 2 | Registered: Nov 2010  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Shmuel
Member
Member # 7586

 - posted      Profile for Shmuel   Email Shmuel         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm with Orincoro on this one. The pervasive tone of self-congratulation got to me.

I liked Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational much better.

Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Raymond Arnold
Member
Member # 11712

 - posted      Profile for Raymond Arnold   Email Raymond Arnold         Edit/Delete Post 
I've heard good things about Preditably Irrational. It wasn't on the bargain shelf (although a Gladwell book was).
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
The Rabbit
Member
Member # 671

 - posted      Profile for The Rabbit   Email The Rabbit         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Blayne Bradley:
I have a math science background and found it interesting.

Blayne, I don't mean to be insulting, perhaps I am misremembering, but aren't you in your first year studying at a University? It's more than a bit presumptuous of someone just starting their University studies to claim to have a background in any academic field. At best, at this point in your life, you have an interest in math and science. You certainly don't have the background required to critically review any scientific work.

I think many of your posts would be better received if you did not claim expertise where you do not have it. There is no shame in being unlearned, unless you do not recognize it and aren't seeking to change it.

[ December 20, 2010, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: The Rabbit ]

Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jhai
Member
Member # 5633

 - posted      Profile for Jhai   Email Jhai         Edit/Delete Post 
The standard position that I've seen from economists when we've talked about the book is that: (A) Levitt is an extremely talented economist who has been asking (and answering) some very interesting questions on things not normally studied by economists. (B) It's great that Levitt is asking these questions and writing popular books about it, because that's pushing the field of economics further - yay for economics' hegemony of the social sciences! Plus he does very fun tricks with his econometrics. (C) Freakanomics has been nice for undergraduate course enrollment numbers. (D) The claims made in the book itself are pretty silly extrapolations and exaggerations from the legitimate claims made in Levitt's papers, but, anyways, what are you doing reading a popular book of economics rather than proper articles? Go pick up the latest JPE and NBER report if you're bored.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Mucus
Member
Member # 9735

 - posted      Profile for Mucus           Edit/Delete Post 
I'd have to say that last pretty much encapsulates my thoughts on the matter too (minus C of course).
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
ketchupqueen
Member
Member # 6877

 - posted      Profile for ketchupqueen   Email ketchupqueen         Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, um, the only familiarity I have with it is when parents ask why they should be using a car seat for their child, and I have to show them that the data actually shows that car seats DO reduce injuries in children. Sigh.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
advice for robots
Member
Member # 2544

 - posted      Profile for advice for robots           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Jhai:
Go pick up the latest JPE and NBER report if you're bored.

Because that would cure my boredom. [Razz]

I think people read books like Freakonomics to be entertained first, and educated second.

Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Orincoro
Member
Member # 8854

 - posted      Profile for Orincoro   Email Orincoro         Edit/Delete Post 
I think there are probably a lot of people out there who are not aware of the difference, i.e. they believe they are being educated when actually they are being entertained.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Raymond Arnold
Member
Member # 11712

 - posted      Profile for Raymond Arnold   Email Raymond Arnold         Edit/Delete Post 
But, consciously or not, their primary criteria is still "be entertained." If you took away Freakanomics and gave them a copy of "Boring Serious Economics Weekly" and a copy of the Weekly World News, they'd peruse the former for a minute or two before giving up and reading Weekly World News.

Or put them both down and watch youtube vids about adorable kittens.

Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Orincoro
Member
Member # 8854

 - posted      Profile for Orincoro   Email Orincoro         Edit/Delete Post 
Well then, rather, I think people are allowed to fool themselves into to at least believing intellectually that they are being educated, when in fact the material they consume is of little value to them. The inability to properly gauge that value is, I think, a problem. But that's a problem with media that stretches back through recorded history- people consume more, but are not always enlightened by what they consume. People confuse information for education, and particularly confuse pleasing information for education.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2