In the second half of Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and
Stephen J. Dubner, they slowly transition from one complex ides to another. It
begins by continuing to explore the mindset of dug-dealers. It then uses the
information presented to explore the causes of the unpredicted fall in crime
during the 1990s. From there, the authors discuss parents. Specifically, who
makes the best parents and what is under parents’ control. They finish by
discussing the effect that a person’s name has on their success and opportunities
in life.
The most important idea presented in
the second half of the book is that preconceptions can be not only inaccurate,
but they also drive people, even experts, away from the true answers. This is
best shown in chapter four. When crack cocaine began to take over entire
cities, and crime began to rapidly increase in the 1980s and early 1990s,
experts predicted that crimes would reach a level that would make the country
dangerous to live in. Instead, crime rate abruptly, and drastically fell. Many
causes were cited. These included the increased reliance on prisons (which had
a significant role to play but was not the main reason), and more rigorous
police tactics (which was the most cited cause but later proved to not have any
effect on crime. The real main cause was the sudden nationwide legalization of
abortion following the Roe v. Wade
case. This idea is supported by showing similar situations in Romania after
abortion was legalized.
In the first half of the book, each
chapter was a series of anecdotes used to support a thesis regarding a central anecdote.
In the second half. The chapters are continually referenced throughout, making
them a sort of extended metaphor. The story of the drug-dealers here used to
explain how legal abortions stopped crime. The facts about abortion were used to
explain why nature is different from nurture (which explains why many aborted
children would be destined to life of crime), and the analysis of naming
concludes the comparison.
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