The authors define “freakonomics” as the application of economic principles to non-financial questions. I started reading it on a flight from SFO to O’Hare and finished it as the plane was landing, so it’s certainly interesting and well written. Similarly to Blink, the only thing more intriguing than the topics are the conclusions. The theme is to be skeptical of conventional wisdom; it’s Moneyball for everything outside of baseball.

The Levitt/Dubner team now also has a blog of the same name to continue the discussion of these (often random) questions scientifically.

Saying “Yes!” to everything seems like it should be a really bad idea. Just think of the amount of advertising we’re subjected to on a daily basis. But despite a fair amount of close calls (almost getting beat up in a bar, doing drugs with a stranger in Amsterdam, almost being consumed by a Malaysian lizard) and mounting credit card debt, saying “Yes!” turned this Brit’s life around. What struck me was how he referred to his way of life, e.g. “Yes wanted me to do this,” as if Yes were a higher power. This book has probably been written with the word “Yes” replaced by “God.” What started as a way for Wallace to force himself to hang out with friends more often thus turned into something of a spiritual journey, as he relinquished control of his life.

Add this one to my list of books for a hypothetical high school English class.

Apparently the Yes Man story inspired a bit of a cult, which Wallace has dubbed “Join Me.” It’s quite popular in Belgium, but he’s still working on the Norwegians.

Here’s the true story of why you’re prescribed a certain medication when you go to the doctor. It’s not what you think. This was an interesting follow-up What Should I Do With My Life? Shouldn’t someone working less than 30 hours a week and making six-figures would be happy? Actually, I’d be miserable at that job too. The only success I ever had selling anything was M&Ms in 6th grade for our trip to Camp Bernie. I stood outside Grand Union every day for a week and asked everyone who passed, “Do you want to buy a box of M&Ms?” I remember one guy tried to give me some tip about saying I was from St. Thomas More School and we were doing a fundraiser for our retreat and all. Wow, that didn’t work at all.

The best aspect of this book is that it doesn’t profile the most successful (rich) people in the world as most books concerning the subject would. We all know that Bill Gates dropped out of college and became filthy rich; that doesn’t help me figure out how to live my life. Po’s approach is more focused on how people found what really makes them happy in life. The people, journeys, and destinations are quite diverse. While there likely isn’t one person that the reader will identify with, there are so many stories that the reader is likely to see similarities in many of those profiled. If nothing else, it made me feel more confident about my path, so in that sense, I’m glad I read it.

I found this in the sale section of Barnes and Noble after reading 1421, which describes the Chinese world expedition that commenced in that year. Columbus Was Last summarizes 15 pre-Columbian “discoveries” of America. The stories come from every part of the world and vary in believability. The best section of the book is the last chapter which attempts to explain why Columbus’s voyage became legendary while others were forgotten, in spite of apparent discrepancies in the Great Navigator’s accounts. Although only one (Vikings landing in Newfoundland) is generally accepted scientifically and historically, I’m convinced that at least one other party made their way to America between the native Americans and Columbus. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know for sure who actually made the journey.