TOW #8- IRB: Freakonomics

Freakonomics does exactly what it promises: Makes the reader ask questions.  After reading this book, everyday norms have become situations to analyze and experiment with to find trends in the human population.  Studying human behavior doesn't only apply to the world of economics, although it is an important part of the study.  Knowing the trends of human behavior can just give you a better understanding of the way the world works, and why people do what they do. The authors of this book use statistics and anecdotes as well as rhetorical questions to get readers to think about trends of the everyday world differently.  A very interesting chapter of this book pertained to baby names and the implications of a child's name.  First, to prove to the audience that names did have an effect on a child's life, the authors shared an anecdote about a child named Loser and his brother named Winner.  The authors write, "Loser Lane did in fact succeed.  He went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and joined the New York Police Department, where he made detective, and eventually, sergeant... The most noteworthy achievement of Winner Lane, now in his mid forties, is the sheer length of his criminal record: near three dozen arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other mayhem." (Dubner, Levitt 212)  Clearly, the names don't correlate exactly as they should, however the anecdotes in this chapter support the fact that the names given to children have an impact on their lives.  The use of lists of most popular names in different socioeconomic groups of different decades later help the authors to prove this same idea.  The names given to children can reflect their economic status, parents education level, or their likelihood of succeeding in their professional lives.  Another way that the authors accomplish their purpose is through the use of rhetorical questions.  The authors tell an anecdote about a girl named Temptress who landed in Albany County Family Court in New York.  She was charged with ungovernable behavior, including bringing men into the home when her mom wasn't home.  The surprising correlation between her name and the charges caught the eye of Dubner and Levitt.  They write, "Was Temptress actually 'living out her name,' as Judge Duggan saw it?  Or would she have wound up in trouble even if her mother had called her Chastity?" (Dubner, Levitt 183) By using rhetorical questions, the authors provoke thought in the direction they want the readers to be thinking.  It shapes the train of thought throughout the chapter so the readers are guided in the same direction of the authors' thoughts.  Also, by provoking thought about this case, they accomplish their purpose because readers may start to question things like this in other patterns that they come across in their lives.  Using anecdotes and rhetorical questions, Levitt and Dubner are able to successfully encourage readers to think and ask questions about patterns they find in the world in order to make sense of the way people act and think.