Have you ever wondered what school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Or have you thought about what your parents are telling the world through your name? These questions and many more are answered in Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s sensational book: Freakonomics. This whirlwind of a book takes modern day thinking and turns it upside down and inside out by providing us with answers to questions that we would probably never ask, but whose answers present very relevant ideas to help us understand the world around us. Levitt and Dubner’s clever collaboration reveals to us that society is governed by incentives, the concrete idea of what we get in return for something we do for another person. While this book is completely nonfiction, it reads exactly like a detective novel, enticing audiences to try to find their way out of the fascinating mental maze these questions present. It brings a fun and exciting approach to the study of human behavior that does not feel like you are tasked with reading an ordinary psychology textbook. The most captivating aspect of Freakonomics is how the authors find and analyze the similarities between two very seemingly unrelated themes. Take, for instance, the Klu Klux Klan and real estate agents; we would typically presume that these groups have nothing in common because of the violence and cruelty of the KKK and how those phrases do not relate to real estate agents in any way. While these presumptions are accurate, Levitt and Dubner look past the obvious in Freakonomics. They explain to their audience that “the fear created by commercial experts may not quite rival the fear created by terrorists like the Klu Klux Klan, but the principle is the same” (Dubner and Levitt 68). It is passages like this that truly set this book apart from others who seek to untangle the chaos of the human condition that Freakonomics does so well. Additionally, the authors do a brilliant job walking readers through each concept so both the authors and readers reach a conclusion together, with the reader obtaining valuable insight throughout the chapter. By the end of the book, I felt so much more aware and educated about society and how it functions which left me asking questions of my own that I would have never thought of before. Freakonomics is a true triumph in the realm of nonfiction, even though it does not read like a typical nonfiction novel, which is why I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy finding out about the complexities of human behavior and how they present themselves in the real world.
The most captivating aspect of Freakonomics is how the authors find and analyze the similarities between two very seemingly unrelated themes. Take, for instance, the Klu Klux Klan and real estate agents; we would typically presume that these groups have nothing in common because of the violence and cruelty of the KKK and how those phrases do not relate to real estate agents in any way. While these presumptions are accurate, Levitt and Dubner look past the obvious in Freakonomics. They explain to their audience that “the fear created by commercial experts may not quite rival the fear created by terrorists like the Klu Klux Klan, but the principle is the same” (Dubner and Levitt 68). It is passages like this that truly set this book apart from others who seek to untangle the chaos of the human condition that Freakonomics does so well. Additionally, the authors do a brilliant job walking readers through each concept so both the authors and readers reach a conclusion together, with the reader obtaining valuable insight throughout the chapter. By the end of the book, I felt so much more aware and educated about society and how it functions which left me asking questions of my own that I would have never thought of before. Freakonomics is a true triumph in the realm of nonfiction, even though it does not read like a typical nonfiction novel, which is why I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy finding out about the complexities of human behavior and how they present themselves in the real world.