TOW #23- IRB "Freakonomics"

Freakonomics, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, well-respected economists known for their unique perspectives, divide the book into different chapters. The one called "Why Do Drug Dealers Still live with Their Moms?" illustrates the "conventional wisdom" where experts and journalists often fabricate information and knowledge intentionally for their self-interest and convenience. Their purpose in writing the essay is to inform people of how facts can sometimes be tainted with one's selfish motives, and how it leads to misconception. By doing so, their audience, who are regular citizens with no expertise, is able to learn the true statistics. They mix a balance of logic and analogy to effectively accomplish their goals. When providing an example of conventional wisdom, they write, "In the early 1980...Mitch Snyder took to saying that there were about 3 million homeless Americas... More than 1 of every 100 people were homeless? That sure seemed high, but...well, the expert said it...Ultimately, when Snyder was pressed on his figure of 3 million homeless, he admitted that it was a fabrication" (90). This informally presented incident is very familiar; we often hear bizarre statistics that claim similar "fact." However, this is the same logical process that most people go through. First they are in disbelief, but then soon give in to the expertise, simply because we assume they have more knowledge over us. The two authors clearly show a flaw in this logic that we misuse every day. Also, when talking about the story of Sudhir Venkatesh, who goes in to live with drug gangs, he uses an analogy to explain why many drug dealers who merely earn $3.30 choose to stay in their depressing situation. It is said that they are likely to be arrested about 5.9 times, and has a 1 in 4 chance of being killed in the four year period. For their main audience, who are unlikely to understand the situation in the slums, it is hard to understand why they are paying money to stay in such business. However, they explain that it is "for the same reason that a pretty Wisconsin farm girl moves to Hollywood. For the same reason that a high-school quarterback wakes up at 5 a.m. to life weights." The dealers are aiming to earn $100,000 like their leader does and rise up the social ladder. In addition, their lack of education and job availability forces them to turn to these drug dealing jobs. With their compelling stories and thorough explanations, they accomplish their goals for writing this chapter.