Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner is the 2nd consecutive non-fiction book I’ve read, and only the 2nd since I graduated school. I wrote about reading Predictably Irrational earlier. I borrowed this one, so had to move it up on in my way too long reading list.
Basically, the author takes questions that people may or may not have asked ever, analyzes the numbers and statistics with economic theories, and either draws their conclusions or lets the readers draw their conclusions. What are some of the questions that they ponder? They include things like why do crack cocaine dealers live with their mom? What was the cause in the sharp drop in violent crime? Are teachers helping students cheat on standardized tests? Does parenting really matter? They also go into topics such as if your real estate agent really has your best interests at heart, if sumo wrestlers cheat, and much more.
I thought that some of the questions and stories that were talked about in the book were interesting. The most interesting to me were the ones he told about parenting, and whether or not parenting really mattered to a kid becoming good, successful, etc. The statistics he provided and the analysis that he did seemed to show that how successful a child became had more to do with who and what the parents were rather than what it was that they did. A child didn’t grow up successful because his parents read to him every night or took him to museums or whatnot. He was successful because his parents had money or had him when the mother was older and not, for example, a teenager. I thought this chapter and the one about if a name has an impact on a child’s future were quite interesting. Makes the people who always make fun of parents who over-parent seem like they are correct and such.
The book is not very long and so makes for a short read. It covers some rather controversial topics as well, one in which people might cringe and cry foul in disbelief. These topics include things like abortion, guns, the KKK. Whether or not you agree with some, none, or all of what is written here, I think its worth reading if only because it will get you asking questions, both to yourself, and hopefully to others. If that happens, isn’t that in and of itself make the book worth reading?
And do you know what that means? All you people who say you can multi-task are either lying or are fooling yourselves. Yes, most of you out there can probably do more than one thing at a time, but I bet that you cannot do more than one thing at a time well. Why do I say that? Because I can’t do it, I’ve seen quite a few people who can’t do it and so I have to make the assumption that most people can’t do it!!
Do you know how often I’ve tried to watch tv and talk on the phone at once? I almost always have to pay more attention to one than the other or else I can’t really listen to either. Or played video games and someone calls? It can’t be done. Inevitably, the person on the phone will say something like “Did you hear what I said?” or “Are you listening to me?” I used to try to watch tv and do my homework at the same time. You just can’t do well. For some reason, the homework always took me so much longer. It got to the point that I only started doing homework and watching tv at the same time if I was doing brainless, repetitive homework that didn’t require a lot of thinking.
Now, when I am at work, I often multi-task. But, its not the same thing. If I have 2 queries to write or 2 reports to create, I don’t actually do both at the same time. I will, for example, write one part of a query, run it, and then while it is running I will write the other query. If you define multi-tasking like that, as someone who can efficiently manage time, then yes, I can do that quite easily. That is why at work you are often given more than one assignment at a time. Its defined as time management in that case, not actually doing more than one thing at at time.
Are there some people who are able to actually do more than one thing at a time and do them both as well as if they were doing them separately? Probably. But I’d bet a lot of money that was more the exception, and there are not a lot of people who can actually do it. No, I’m not talking about chewing gum and walking at the same time. I think that for this very reason you see all those studies of traffic accidents being much more likely when people are talking on the phone or texting at the same time as they drive. People can do both yes. But, there is no way that you can do both equally well…but rather both equally bad. So, the next time you tell yourself that you are a master multi-tasker, ask yourself why the person on the phone just asked you “Are you listening to me?” or why your homework took you so long to do or why all the studies show that people who talk on the phone are more likely to get into an accident than those who do not. Maybe you really aren’t as good as you thought, you really are like everybody else and are not the exception.
As I posted previously, I’m looking to buy a home. So when I came across this article I thought it was pretty interesting. Now, I have always thought that renting was a waste of money, just giving your money away. I didn’t really do any math or analysis to prove this. It was always just a thought. After all, if I move back home after college with my parents, I live for free. If I live in an apartment, it costs $1000 bucks or whatever. So, if you put it in those terms, then I guess that it really is a waste.
However, like many people out there, you have to live somewhere. And for most people that comes down to either renting or buying. And if you don’t want to be a leach and live with your parents your whole life, and renting vs buying are your only two choices, then is James Altucher right when saying that “the notion buying a home is a ticket to financial security is a ‘scam’ perpetrated on the American people by corporations” true? Is his statistic that homes only went up in value .4% annually in the last 120 years even right? Its actually quite interesting to me because I have always had this deep seated anti-business/corporation mindset that all corporations only care about money and nothing about people. And if that is the case, then this “scam” is even more devious, convincing people to buy a home as a means to better get them to buy their needless consumer goods. Kind of like what DeBeer’s did with women, convincing them that blood diamonds are equal to love.
But, conspiracy theories aside, is buying a home really a bad investment? I’m too lazy to do any formal analysis, but if you actually look at all the costs of buying a home that are mentioned, is renting really a better decision? Also, have you ever looked at how much interest you actually pay on a 30 year loan compared to how much was actually borrowed? Its kind of scary in that depending on the interest rate you can pay more in interest than the actual amount of money borrowed. Even if your home goes up in value, and your purpose of buying a home is for an investment, then what kind of “investment” is that? But, if the purpose of buying a home is to live in it, then why not rent? Why tie yourself down as the author says? Why pay for all those costs? If you are looking for an investment, then why not use that money for a down payment on an actual investment?
I don’t think that this article deters me from looking at homes. In fact, I just looked at a few homes yesterday and will look at more this Saturday. Is it just that this “American Dream scam” is just so ingrained in my head? Is it the evil corporations spewing out marketing and propaganda so well that I have renting is a waste still stuck inside? I mean, if I just rent, I could probably live a heck of a lot more comfortably as I would have a decent amount of money to spend since I didn’t have to pay a huge down payment. Buy my furniture, a new car, vacation, etc. But, despite all this, I still would rather buy than rent.
Any analysts out there that can argue the opposite point and show that buying a home really is a good investment worthy of the title “American Dream”?
Technology has now reached the ketchup industry as Heinz has come out with a new ketchup pack! What has this new time, money and research allowed for? Why let me tell you! The new pack is about the same size as the old one, but it now holds more ketchup, 3 times more to be exact!! And have you ever had the most difficult time opening the old packs, forced to use your teeth to ope the suckers? Well no more!! Piece of cake now, just tear off the top just like that! But, the most technologically advanced feature of all? The bane of all ketchup users was that the old pack did not allow you to dip your fries! This new pack though, gives you the open to either squeeze out the ketchup, or to just peel it open and allow you to dip your fries! What!!?? How can a tiny little pack that has no electricity or power allow for such a sophisticated function? The best part of all, this new pack only costs slightly more than the old pack to make!!! Wow!! Are restaurants going to pay that extra price though? We’ll have to wait and see. If they can convince customers that this higher price is worth the value, then I’ll be seeing you at a fast food restaurant soon, either dipping or squeezing the ketchup out of the new pack for the fries!
I went to the Post Office yesterday before work because I had to mail something for my dad, and he wanted it sent certified mail. He had bought something online, and didn’t like it so wanted me to ship it back to them. He wanted it sent certified as proof that they got it back, so sure, whatevers. Just wrapped everything back up, put the address on, and I’m good to go.
I get there and no one is there, so awesome. Fill the certified mail form, then hand that and my large envelope to the lady. She asks me some stuff like if what I have is fragile, perishable, flammable or whatever. And I’m like no. Do you want to send this express or priority so that it gets there tomorrow or the next day? No thanks. Then she asks if I want to send certified mail. Ummmm, hello. I handed you the certified mail form all filled out. I didn’t freaking do it for fun. Yes I say. Do you want signature confirmation with this? What? Isn’t the point of certified mail so that they have to sign for it? Yes sir, but if they receive and sign for it, and you check online, all you have proof of is that the package was delivered. They can always sign for it and then say they never received it. WTF am I paying for is all I’m thinking, but I just say no thanks, I don’t need signature confirmation. Do you want to insure? No thanks. Do you need boxes, stamps or mail supplies. No thanks. Do you need anything else? NO THANKS!!
They are freaking worse than fast food workers who ask if you want a drink or fries with your meal. I just want to mail a package!!! I think like 90% of the crap they try to sell you are a waste of money. Certified mail, delivery confirmation, or whatever the hell else they offer. I guess they have to have all these stupid services so that the workers can bombard you with these stupid questions. If I wanted to insure my package, I would of freaking asked you to insure it, or filed out the form!
So Cox Communications, the company I use for broadband internet service using a cable modem raised their prices by something like 10%. Are you kidding? I’m sure there costs really went up 10% or so. Its a load of crap. But the worst part about it is that consumers do not have very many alternatives. There is a freaking monopoly in every city with respect to telephones and cable. What the hell? When it comes to internet service, I can choose either DSL or cable from Cox or AT&T. That’s it. I made the switch to AT&T because if you sign up for a year contract, they are $7/month cheaper for the same speed. But, I guarantee you that when that year is up, they too will raise their rates, and then once again I’ll have my “choices” between cable and DSL.
Corporate America sucks. They always complain about how they don’t want the government to get involved with them. Just let them go and let market forces drive the economy. Really? Then why is it illegal for most cities to have more than one carrier? Guess government intervention is bad unless it only benefits them. Why does the US pay so much more for broadband than say, places in Europe or South Korea? I don’t know what the situation over in those places are, but I’ve read that there is a lot of competition to provide customers broadband service. Oh, how coincidental that the prices are lower. Its such crap because we are moving to a society where having internet service is almost a necessity. Tons of people buy things online, pay bills online, trade stocks, etc, etc. The internet allows them to buy and choose things from all over the country and get the cheapest prices, but they have no choices is using the service that allows them to do so.
I didn’t really want to make the switch. Its just a hassle that I have to cancel one service, then sign up for another, install everything, and whatever else that I have to do. In terms of dollars/month, Cox’s raise wasn’t a whole lot, and nothing that I can’t afford. But, its just the principle. I’m going to go to where its cheapest when I can. And unfortunately, the cheapest here is still much more expensive than what you can pay in pretty much any other country that actually has competition.
I have complained many times that I just do not seem to have enough time to do everything that I want to do. I keep whining that freaking work takes up 40+ hours of my life every week. Sleep takes up about 8 hours every night. And so that leaves too little time to do anything else. I can’t just stop working, as like most everyone out there I’m not wealthy and need to earn a paycheck. So, either scratch things off my to do list, or get less sleep.
Now, I have been getting about 8 hours of sleep every night consistently for I don’t know how long. Pretty much all my life. I don’t remember getting less on a regular basis. I just go to sleep every night at like 11, wake up at 7. I get less than that, I usually feel somewhat tired the next day, and its harder to get up in the morning. I’ve read often that getting 8 hours of sleep is ideal, and the most healthy. However, there are no definitive studies on that. I’ve also read, I think it was a study from UCSD??, that you only really need 6 hours of sleep a night. And I’m not sure if it was the same study or not, but I also read that someone found that people who got 8 hours of sleep or more a night were less healthy and I think had a lower life expectancy. Don’t know if I believe that, but whatever.
So, I’ve decided to very slowly get less sleep each night to see if I can do more each day in life. Started sleeping half an hour later each night and still waking up at the same time, and really didn’t notice a difference. It is slightly more difficult to get up each morning, but not that bad. I’m not a snoozer. Once the alarm sounds, I get up. In fact, 90% of the time, I wake up before my alarm sounds by about 10-15 minutes and just lie there waiting for it to sound. That’s probably why its so easy to get up when my alarm sounds as I am already awake. I know that I am super tired or slept late the night before when my alarm sounds and I am literally still asleep when it does. Those are the mornings in the past where it has been the most difficult to wake up. However, I’ve not had any of those mornings yet. And, throughout the day since this happened? Not so bad. I’m not a walking zombie or such, like I am when I get home at 3 am only to have to go to work the next day.
So, 30 minutes later and things okay. This week, I’ve started sleeping between 30 and 60 minutes later than usual now, averaging probably 45 minutes. So, now getting a little more than 7 hours of sleep a night, and waking up like I normally do just before the alarm and getting through the day ok. And, almost an hour more every day to do stuff like read, play games, practice iPhone apps (which I so suck at), and whatever else I want. I don’t know how much more I will try to extend this, but I highly doubt I will lower it to like 4 hours/night. I think the least I will go is maybe 6, but we’ll see. Here’s to more time in life, and if that study is right, a longer one!
Its Presidents Day, so just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy day off, for those that get work off. It got me thinking, not only of this holiday, but in most holidays in general. Does anyone actually honor our presidents or care anything about this holiday other than the fact that you get the day off of work? I know many people celebrate 4th of July with fireworks, but are they really celebrating the country’s independence, or does it just give people a good excuse to light some explosives? I would say that Christmas is probably the most celebrated holiday for the entire country, although that holiday has really become more commercialized than anything else.
I’m not complaining in anyway whatsoever. Trust me. I live for the holidays and weekends, any excuse to get away from the daily grind and necessity of work. You just have to have them or you will have nothing to look forward to. There are not too many holidays anymore that I can really think of that outside a select group of people, (like serviceman and their families celebrating and honoring Veteran’s Day) the majority of American’s all celebrate and honor or remember. Its just another day off, and well, nothing at all wrong with that.
I was reading and saw this article that over the weekend, director/writer/actor/funnyman Kevin Smith was kicked off of the airplane on a Southwest flight because he was “too heavy.” He said that the large woman next to him was kicked off as well. How embarrassing. Now, before I say anything I will admit that I do not necessarily have a problem one way or another about airlines and their fat people policy. I see both sides of the argument. I mean, on one hand, if a fat person takes up more than one seat or make it an uncomfortable flight for the passenger next to him, why shouldn’t he pay for another seat? But, from that person’s point of view, why should he have to pay more than the person next to him when both of them are taking a flight to the same destination? More importantly though, why can’t the airlines just make their seats bigger? Like every other American corporation, they care more about money than they do about people. I’m surprised they don’t just cram you into planes like sardines so they can fit that many more people on a flight. I am not a big person, but I’ve definitely flown some flights where it was pretty tight. That is just ridiculous. But, why don’t all American’s, who are among the fattest people in the world, lose some freaking weight!?? It is a difficult dilemma for the airline, but……
If you are going to kick someone off the airplane, why freaking let them board in the first place!!! Why waste his time, and embarrass him in front of all the passengers by kicking him off in front of everyone? That is inexcusable. Not only are you going to make him walk the aisle of shame on the way out, but you are going to delay the flight for everyone else. It just makes no sense. Also, looking at this from a PR perspective. if you are going to kick a fat person off your airplane, make sure he is not a famous person. Dude, let this guy ride and kick the next fat person off. At least that other guy doesn’t have a twitter or podcast or whatever that millions of people can see. What a PR nightmare, whether Southwest is right or wrong.
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