Freakonomics – Levitt Dubner

Book Review: Freakonomics

 

Education has always been a part of my life. Being a teacher means also being a student as in order to teach one has to learn well at first.

 

Moreover, experts believe that in teaching someone else one actually ends up learning the topic covered even better.

 

Which begs the question: How does one measure learning?

 

Truth be told, mapping one’s change in behavior before and after learning and the administering of tests where grades are directly correlated to one’s grasp of the subject are conventional methods used.

 

These qualitative and quantitative methods are used not only in education but also in economics and other academic disciplines related to the sciences as well. Of course, the purpose of the data collected might differ but how it is done so still largely is the same.

 

Which brings us to the theme of Freakonomics that asks a lot of questions about corruption, crime and cheating and not surprisingly, uses data to find an answer that might surprise just about anyone who reads this brilliant book.

 

A Book of Patterns, Correlations and Intriguing Conclusions

 

As the author himself admits, the topics discussed in the book are, indeed, strange. Not only have they confused his peers as they are questions related to everyday matters but they don’t pick a common subject related to economics.

 

To give you an idea as to how bizarre some of these topics are, the correlations they share with other topics with which they have nothing in common and the patterns as well as conclusions discerned, it increasingly becomes clear that no matter what dishonest people say, the numbers don’t lie.

 

For example, the book begins with trying to find the reasons for the drop in crime but ends up with a surprising conclusion that has to do with an abortion case namely Rove vs. Wade despite more obvious and prevailing ones.

 

It goes on to find patterns between Sumo wrestlers and teachers, the Klu Klux Klan and real estate agents and so on and so forth.

 

And while the content of the book might not seem so simple, the truth is you might not need a dictionary to understand what Levitt is trying to convey. And no, you don’t need to take an Economics 101 class either…

 

What I find so fascinating about the book is both the simplicity of the questions asked yet also being insightful in the way he finds an answer to the question itself using available data and deductive reasoning.

 

For example, in an experiment conducted with the Chicago Public Schools, he uses test data to determine whether a teacher has helped his or her students get through the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

 

The scary part is, and as mentioned earlier, he presents his findings in such a convincing manner that it’s impossible to miss the obvious. And why? Because the numbers never lie…

 

Trust me, they don’t. And you’ve only begun to scratch the surface…

 

And while I can go on and on about how amazing the book’s revelations are, Robert Nozick describes the genius of Levitt perfectly, in saying, “Maybe he’s going to be one of those people who’s so talented that he doesn’t need one [a unifying theme]. He’ll take a question and he’ll just answer it, and it’ll be fine.”

 

In Closing

Whatever this book is, it surely isn’t about conventional wisdom but looking at things very differently. And sooner or later, it will influence you to think that way too…