To Read, or Not To Read

I consider myself a reader, though I don't read a much as some friends and family. I tend to read non-fiction and also try to persuade myself that these books make me think more. Sometimes yes and sometimes not. I just started the last book of Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath. I like Gladwell's writing and so far I have not been disappointed.

What I like about his writing is that he looks at the world differently and finds others with a similar bent to write about. This led to a discussion yesterday about a variety of topics, but the basis of the discussion was the thoughts from Gladwell and the writers of the Freakonomics books. I haven't read any of the Freak books, but intend to soon. The ideas for all of these books seem to come from people looking at numbers differently than is the norm. One Gladwell story is about how we choose a college determines some of our success, which is a common thought and choosing a prestigious university doesn't translate to success. They even tied our country's success in math and science majors to the colleges people attend.

Which makes you wonder about the "real" contribution of these major universities. The recent verbal blunders of the MIT economist Jonathan Gruber may seem rude, but they are consistent with his beliefs about other people. Gruber said that Obamacare was passed because of the "stupidity" of the American public. He also claimed the lack of transparency helped pass the law. Gruber was a well-paid advisor to the White House regarding the Affordable Care Act. Isolated incident?

In the middle 1990's Gruber headed a study that concluded that Roe vs. Wade was the reason the country was experiencing a lower crime rate. His reasoning was that fewer poor babies were being born since the 1973 Supreme Court decision. Less babies born in the 70's, fewer young poor adults in the 90's, less crime in the 90's. Seems a bit logical if you have a dim view of poor, single parent young people. And you forget that the crack epidemic had been squashed and New York had implemented the Broken Window policy.

My real thoughts are that one needs to look beyond the norm and think. Gladwell's books make me do that.