In the Epilogue, the authors mention, as they did at the beginning of the book, that there is no unifying theme to Freakonomics. The common thread throughout the book is to thinking differently about situations, such as why people are named certain ways or why people actually want to deal drugs. These are things that I've wondered about at some point, and this book as enlightened me as to why these things happen.
I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to see economics used in a different, unconventional way. Anyway who thinks economics is uninteresting should definitely read this book. It brings the subject into a whole new light.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Chapter 6
Chapter 6, the final chapter in the book, displays the most popular names in socioeconomic groups and discusses how successful people given different names become. However, it isn't the name that makes the person successful for unsuccessful. The man that named two of his sons Winner and Loser found this out first hand (and why he named his son Loser I will never know). Loser had become successful as a police sergeant and Winner had a long history of criminal activity.
The book has several lists of names given to children that are black and white and in different socioeconomic groups. The names that are given to black and white boys and girls are usually very different. A black mother giving her child a distinctively black name usually comes from an unmarried, low income, low educated household from a black neighborhood. The black mother wants to name her son or daughter these names to keep the black culture alive through the family and not "act white." Just as black children have to "act black" so they don't get taunted, mothers have to name their children black names to not "act white."
I was looking through the lists and I noticed my name, Justin, on the "Most Common Low-End White Boy Names. Not only that, but my middle name, Anthony, as also on this list of five names. I come from a middle-income family, so I sort of go against this finding. I just thought it was interesting.
It is also interesting how popular names change so quickly. Names that were popular only 30 or 40 years ago, such as Linda, Debra, and Sandra, are hardly used anymore. People are trying to keep up with the trendy names of the time. There are some names that seem to stick for a while, such as Michael and David. I'm sure there will be many names in ten or twenty years that will hardly ever hear of today. The names may seem very weird to us now, but now so weird down the road. Down the road, I will probably want my son or daughter to have a trendy name to stay with the times.
The book has several lists of names given to children that are black and white and in different socioeconomic groups. The names that are given to black and white boys and girls are usually very different. A black mother giving her child a distinctively black name usually comes from an unmarried, low income, low educated household from a black neighborhood. The black mother wants to name her son or daughter these names to keep the black culture alive through the family and not "act white." Just as black children have to "act black" so they don't get taunted, mothers have to name their children black names to not "act white."
I was looking through the lists and I noticed my name, Justin, on the "Most Common Low-End White Boy Names. Not only that, but my middle name, Anthony, as also on this list of five names. I come from a middle-income family, so I sort of go against this finding. I just thought it was interesting.
It is also interesting how popular names change so quickly. Names that were popular only 30 or 40 years ago, such as Linda, Debra, and Sandra, are hardly used anymore. People are trying to keep up with the trendy names of the time. There are some names that seem to stick for a while, such as Michael and David. I'm sure there will be many names in ten or twenty years that will hardly ever hear of today. The names may seem very weird to us now, but now so weird down the road. Down the road, I will probably want my son or daughter to have a trendy name to stay with the times.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 is about parenting techniques. The authors talk about how correct parenting techniques are constantly changing. So called "experts" keep publishing books on a new technique that parents should use for their children. Parents always want to follow the correct techniques out of fear: Fear that the child will not grow up properly.
I feel that parenting does make a reasonable difference as far a personality goes. My parents always looked out for my best and always wanted me to focus on the right direction: getting good grades in school, joining clubs, making new friends. I think if my parents didn't push me for these things and praise me when I did well, I wouldn't have cared as much.
The book then goes on to discuss that maybe parenting doesn't make as much difference as everyone thinks. But in what aspects? As far as schooling goes, goes does not make much of a difference, according to the Chicago Public School system "experiment." I agree with Richard P. Mills' reasoning that children are not prepared for high school work. There needs to be a renewed emphasis on getting children prepared for the future.
Looking back, even though it was my high school, I don't think it prepared me well for college. I was in honors, but the work was far too easy. I got to college thinking it was going to be a breeze, that I wouldn't have to study much and still get good grades. I was wrong, of course, and when I started getting my grades after a couple of semesters, I wasn't too pleased. School work needs to challenge students to get better. When you don't think you can do it, you need to push even harder to accomplish your task.
The authors then talk about the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. They talk about what factors the study showed that were positively correlated (through regression analysis) with test scores and factors that were not positively correlated (eight of each). I went on to think about myself and the factors that are positively correlated with good test scores, since I generally tested well on tests such as FCAT.
While my parents don't have graduate degrees, they both went to college. My mother was over thirty when she had her first child (me), and I did not have a low birth weight. My parents speak English. I did not have many books in my home, but I had things like encyclopedias to use before we got a computer. These factors lead to me be a fairly intelligent student and test well.
What also helped me was that my parents rewarded performing well in school. My parents would always be very happy whenever I brought home A's. What influenced me even more was that they were not happy with me making anything less than a B. If I brought home C's, they would always want me to do better. My parents would also reward me with money for A's and B's.
I feel that parenting does make a reasonable difference as far a personality goes. My parents always looked out for my best and always wanted me to focus on the right direction: getting good grades in school, joining clubs, making new friends. I think if my parents didn't push me for these things and praise me when I did well, I wouldn't have cared as much.
The book then goes on to discuss that maybe parenting doesn't make as much difference as everyone thinks. But in what aspects? As far as schooling goes, goes does not make much of a difference, according to the Chicago Public School system "experiment." I agree with Richard P. Mills' reasoning that children are not prepared for high school work. There needs to be a renewed emphasis on getting children prepared for the future.
Looking back, even though it was my high school, I don't think it prepared me well for college. I was in honors, but the work was far too easy. I got to college thinking it was going to be a breeze, that I wouldn't have to study much and still get good grades. I was wrong, of course, and when I started getting my grades after a couple of semesters, I wasn't too pleased. School work needs to challenge students to get better. When you don't think you can do it, you need to push even harder to accomplish your task.
The authors then talk about the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. They talk about what factors the study showed that were positively correlated (through regression analysis) with test scores and factors that were not positively correlated (eight of each). I went on to think about myself and the factors that are positively correlated with good test scores, since I generally tested well on tests such as FCAT.
While my parents don't have graduate degrees, they both went to college. My mother was over thirty when she had her first child (me), and I did not have a low birth weight. My parents speak English. I did not have many books in my home, but I had things like encyclopedias to use before we got a computer. These factors lead to me be a fairly intelligent student and test well.
What also helped me was that my parents rewarded performing well in school. My parents would always be very happy whenever I brought home A's. What influenced me even more was that they were not happy with me making anything less than a B. If I brought home C's, they would always want me to do better. My parents would also reward me with money for A's and B's.
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