The online universe doesn’t have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.
There ain’t no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it — and that somebody is everybody.
A look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.
It’s awkward, random, confusing — and probably discriminatory too.
A kid’s name can tell us something about his parents — their race, social standing, even their politics. But is your name really your destiny?
Educational messaging looks good on paper but kids don’t respond to it — and adults aren’t much better.
From the (U.K.) Times:
It isn’t easy to separate the guilty from the innocent, but a clever bit of game theory can help.
Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?
We just released our first installment of the Think Like a Freak
The first installment (“How to Screen Job Applicants, Act Your Age, and Get Your Brain Off Autopilot“) covered Chapters 1-3 of Think. Now it’s time for you to send in questions for Chapters 4, 5, and 6 (see Table of Contents, below). If your question ends up in the podcast, we’ll send you a signed copy of Think Like a Freak or a limited edition Think Like a Freak t-shirt. So fire away!
Dubner and Levitt answer reader questions in this first installment of the “Think Like a Freak” Book Club.
From a nice review of Freakonomics Radio on Stitcher (a great podcast platform, BTW, if you don’t know it):
We are starting to put together an anthology of posts from this blog, which we began in 2005, just before the publication of Freakonomics. It is a lot of fun going through the archives — more than 8,000 posts! — but also a bit overwhelming.
Are you willing to help? Whether you are a longtime reader or a new one, please tell us (in the comments section below) any blog posts that you think should be included (or that shouldn’t be). Maybe it was a post you loved … or hated … or something that changed the way you think … or gave you a good idea. Maybe it was simply something that was memorable for reasons you don’t understand.
Don’t feel that you need to troll through the archives as I’m doing, although you are certainly welcome to!
Many thanks.
Is it really in a restaurant’s best interest to give customers free bread or chips before they even order?
Every four years, the U.S. takes a look at the World Cup and develops a slight crush. What would it take to really fall in love?
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?
When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an eight year old.
In Think Like a Freak
Hey Guys,
Loved Think Like a Freak.
One thought: Why don’t we trying paying parents for kids getting good grades??? If the parents are motivated to make money, from someone else’s hard work, then they’ll make the kids work harder and want them to stay in school. I think paying the kids doesn’t take advantage of the leverage of a parent over their child. Just a thought.
As a child in the feudal system of a blue-collar Irish-Catholic East Coast family, my Dad took great pride in and took the credit for his beautiful lawn. This would be the same lawn that his children did all the work on. Haha. Don’t see why it wouldn’t work for grades. And I’m sure the parents would be just as proud, even if they’re getting paid.
Gary’s note may also be referring to a brief passage in Think about the parents of schoolkids:
The best part of publishing a new book
One great example is the book’s second chapter, “The Three Hardest Words in the English Language,” which is about how people are reluctant to say “I don’t know” when in fact they don’t know the answer to a question or the solution to a problem.
We explored this topic in last week’s podcast, and I wanted to share with you some of the most interesting feedback.
Why learning to say “I don’t know” is one of the best things you can do.
Our new book, Think Like a Freak
How does it work? You write in your questions/comments/complaints in the comments section below and we’ll respond to some of them in our podcast. For now, we’re planning to do three episodes of the Book Club. (But if you know us even a little bit, you know we won’t be afraid to quit after one if it doesn’t work out!) Since there are nine chapters in the book, let’s start with questions that pertain to Chapter 1, 2, and 3 of Think. Those are: “What Does It Mean to Think Like a Freak?,” “The Three Hardest Words in the English Language,” and “What’s Your Problem?”
If we choose your question for the podcast, we’ll send you a signed copy of Think Like a Freak or a limited edition Think Like a Freak t-shirt. Thanks!
You never know what Freakonomics Radio listeners will come up with after listening to our podcasts.
Here, from Josh Miner, is a response to our recent episode “Which Came First, the Chicken or the Avocado,” in which we wondered why some people get upset over the plight of factory-farmed chicken while not many seem to care about the humans who suffer because of the extortion and violence in the avocado industry.
What makes Josh’s response so noteworthy? Among other things, it comes replete with flow chart. Read on!
I love your show — in fact, I loved this episode on the moral impact and consequences of our choices. I got so unbelievably mad, though, when you both simplified the question of how consumers’ choices about what they eat affects the food market in which they participate.
Here are some thoughts — not so well organized.
From a friend whose young daughter Lea, around 13 years old, grabbed the copy of Think Like a Freak that I send my friend and “is now devouring it.” But that’s not the good part:
She woke up this morning and told me that she had dreamed last night that we were at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees were winning 12-0, and when Lea looked around, everyone in the stands was reading Think Like a Freak.
No kidding.
And here’s a note from “an almost 13-year-old,” Charlotte, which came over the transom:
Think Like a Freak
In our latest podcast, Levitt talked about how much he dreads going on book tours. He claims to not like being the center of attention, and having to talk to so many people. (Between you and me, I’m not sure he hates it as much as he says.)
Hearing Levitt’s complaints, a listener named Cy Helm has written in with some advice for Levitt.
Last week, Levitt eulogized Gary Becker, who died at age 83. After bringing an entirely new set of ideas to his discipline, for which he was occasionally ridiculed or marginalized, Becker was ultimately rewarded with nearly universal acclaim (and a Nobel Prize).
A couple weeks earlier, Seth Roberts died. He too brought an entirely new set of ideas to his discipline — he was a psychologist who delighted in self-experimentation — for which he too was occasionally ridiculed or marginalized. He didn’t receive the universal acclaim Becker did, and Seth died far too young, in his early sixties.
But Seth had a huge impact on the people who were lucky enough to know his work or, even better, know him. Levitt and I wrote about him back in 2005, taken by the diligence and creativity with which be tackled topics like diet, personal health, sleep, and even acne.
Today’s the day: Think Like a Freak has just been published. Levitt and I will spend a lot of the next few weeks doing interviews for various TV, radio, print, web, and other media outlets. So how about we spice things up a bit and, at the same time, give you the chance to win a signed copy? (Winners of last week’s giveaway contest will be announced later today.)
Here’s the deal: in the comments section below, enter a word or short phrase that you’d like us to slip into one of our interviews. If we use your secret phrase, you win a signed copy of Think Like a Freak (or, if you prefer, a Think t-shirt).
From a Canadian reader named Barry Neelin:
I am constantly being asked if I am Rob Ford. Some say we could be twins. I want to be able to offer corporations my Fordability to advertise their products using Mr. Ford’s facial recognition. I have had no luck. Some say this is unusual in that he has selling appeal. I consider my freak ways of decision-making reliable, but I am up against a wall. Your thoughts would be appreciated. See attached pic.
I guess the first step for Barry would be to determine what kind of corporations are open to using “his Fordability to advertise their products.” Any thoughts?
Once in a while, we get a report from our publishers about how many copies of Freakonomics
The latest report tells us we’ve just breached the 7 million mark. Here’s a rough breakdown:
• United States: 4.4 million
•United Kingdom: 1.65 million
•Translated editions: 1 million
With the global population at around 7 billion, those 7 million copies represent a nice round number: 1 book sold for every 1,000 people on the planet.
With Think Like a Freak
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