Review of The Book Superfreakanomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitution and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

I believe Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner the authors of Superfreakanomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitution, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance wrote the book for two reasons. One, to make some easy money by putting their work into a book and two, to challenge the readers beliefs in ways most wouldn’t and make them question what they thought they knew, and show them a different way of thinking on controversial topics that effect our everyday lives and influence the world around us. They also helped me realize how experts have amazing manipulative skills and that they care nothing about the consumer and just want their money.I did not realize I was reading the second freakanomics and I do plan to eventually read the first as I found the second to be incredibly interesting.

I believe the point the authors’ we’re trying to make was simple. It was to challenge the readers way of thinking, and to show them another point of view. They did this by showing us information that is common knowledge, but going deeper then just stating the facts, they proved that these facts which we think we “know” are rather stretches of the truth. They also were trying to educate the reader, and try to get them to look at things in multiple ways, not just their way. For example, society sees global warming as a problem, if you ask any person on the street the cause of global warming, they will most likely say Co2 from cars. The the fact is, Co2 actually benefits plant growth and that human transportation accounts for other 2% of greenhouse gases. Who would of thought that cow farts contain gases twenty times worse than cars. The book Superfreakanomics showed us ideas like global warming in a different light, and actually completely changed my opinions of the topic. They approached subjects and show us them for what they really are. So overall, Stephen and Steven wrote the book to make us think, and try to get us from thinking inside the “box.”

Steven and Stephen did a great job of making their points, from the first section on drunk driving to the last on global warming, every point was made clear and understandable and even made me question the thing he wrote about even after I put the book down.To think that scientists are trying to put kangaroo stomachs into to cows to counteract global warming was fascinating. They we’re really giving us so much information and making me think so much, but it was all done inside of the story that they were telling, I never stopped and thought why are they asking this, the questions always flowed with the things going on around it.

The book was surprisingly incredibly interesting and enjoyable, I really did not think i would like this book but after reading it, i found that i like these types of books a lot better then most books we have to read in school. I know a lot of people especially people in high school could care less about politics and the controversial ideas such as the ones they brought up in this book but i find them to be quite interesting, and to see ideas from many different point of views. They also brought up ridiculous questions such such as what do real estate agents and prostitutes have in common, and actually compared the two in reasonable ways. I think this book was written to change peoples views on the things they see around them in everyday life.