Freakonomics ? anyone else read this?

[Epacris]

What did you think?

I found it very interesting and surprisingly easy to read.

I thought introductory comments in the parenting chapter were silly, I guess they were supposed to be thought provoking? I LOVED the chapter on baby names, I found it fascinating.

I think having a background in science and statistics really helped me understand the subtleties of the questions they asked and hence the answers they got from the data.

I?ll have to go check out the blog now.

[Snowy Love]

I read it ages ago and just gave it to my brother so can't remember specifics, but I found it very interesting - the chapter on the KKK was good as I remember. The baby names one too.

[dusty]

hey rachel, i am reading it at the moment. awesome following of lateral ideas and explanations for phenomenons etc- i am not up to the babies names chapter yet. DH said the chapter on Roe V Wade and decrease in crime is interesting too.

[Artechim]

It is very interesting. Baby names and Roe Vs Wade are the ones I still remember (read quite a while ago)

[Ginger]

i'm intrigued now. what was the baby names chapter all about?

[Epacris]

The chapter essentially asks the old question “What’s in a name – would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?”

It starts by comparing how black and white parents name their children and shows that they do indeed name them very differently. There are interesting stories throughout about how people with distinctive names either lived up to them or lived out their lives in spite of them. It suggests how different names can affect your life (like on a resume). They essentially conclude that people with “black” names and “white” names do have different lives, but that it is not the fault of the name as such, rather the situation they were born into (from where they were more likely to get their name).

It then compares the correlation between a baby’s name and the parents’ socioeconomic status and years of maternal education. It shows how once a name catches on among high-income, highly-educated parents it works its way down the socioeconomic ladder. Once a high-end name is adopted en mass and becomes too common, it drops out of the name rotation, only to then come back in 40 or so years.

I just found it fascinating, especially because I try so hard to find the right name, the “perfect” name for my child, that’s traditional but not too common.