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A review by firstwords
When to Rob a Bank: ...and 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
2.0
Some fun ideas, but the amount of philosophical navel-gazing and formulation of possible courses of action that just dont work in the real world (a sex tax, not speaking figuratively) make this book completely ridiculous...if you are looking for a serious book. If you want a series of questions/possibilities raised, and to hear a "this experiment will never leave our lab" scenarios, then this is for you.
They raise a question and then ignore all real-world external factors - and human behavior, weird from the folks that wrote [b:Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|1202|Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|Steven D. Levitt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550917827l/1202._SX50_.jpg|5397] - in their answer. Some questions can be answered "in the lab," and where they simply present data and give a conclusion, the book is fine. But almost every single "what if" question that they pose that involves people (if people arent involved, it's easier) leaves out about 95 percent of variables/data. And it makes their conclusions, again, navel gazing.
So if you like "lab" theorems, things that ignore human behavior and the complexity of human societies (again, not being sarcastic, it's fine), then pick it up. Navel gazing was fine when I was a sophomore in college, but I'm past the idiocy of college professors (who also largely lecture in the bubble/lab). Yeah, I guess that's what this is. A couple of professors who never have to enter the real world, and understand nothing of it (Freakonomics? Really?).
You can tell that this was a blog originally, and that some "articles" that became part of the book were articles there just to get page views and news hits. That absolutely SUCKS for a book (for me).
It wasnt a total waste, so two stars.
They raise a question and then ignore all real-world external factors - and human behavior, weird from the folks that wrote [b:Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|1202|Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything|Steven D. Levitt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550917827l/1202._SX50_.jpg|5397] - in their answer. Some questions can be answered "in the lab," and where they simply present data and give a conclusion, the book is fine. But almost every single "what if" question that they pose that involves people (if people arent involved, it's easier) leaves out about 95 percent of variables/data. And it makes their conclusions, again, navel gazing.
So if you like "lab" theorems, things that ignore human behavior and the complexity of human societies (again, not being sarcastic, it's fine), then pick it up. Navel gazing was fine when I was a sophomore in college, but I'm past the idiocy of college professors (who also largely lecture in the bubble/lab). Yeah, I guess that's what this is. A couple of professors who never have to enter the real world, and understand nothing of it (Freakonomics? Really?).
You can tell that this was a blog originally, and that some "articles" that became part of the book were articles there just to get page views and news hits. That absolutely SUCKS for a book (for me).
It wasnt a total waste, so two stars.