Over-hyped

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner 978-0060889579

Do Indian men really have smaller penises? Can you imagine the tease toward our brown friends?

They over-hyped the book dead. All interesting concepts were ruined by all those blogs, media coverage, and party talks. It read like a long re-run. Many meant-to-be startling or new concepts have become old and stale by the time I read them.

Other than that, the chapters were unorganized. Steven and Stephen jumped from one concept to another with very weak linkages. By the time I reached the end of the chapter, I needed to think back the original concept and frequently found the trace-back too winding. The biggest let-down was their approach. Behavior economists should examine data and found insights that explain the world. Instead, the book read like a 300-page news magazine. The articles were interesting, just not very social economical.

The chapter on geoengineering was simply ideas, with good scientific theories behind them. That is disappointing, since I expected experiments or prototypes. Nathan Myhrvold is a billionair and his venture is well-funded. Why are those ideas not backed by solid proofs?

The chapter on “cheap and simple” fixes felt just naive. There are almost insurmountable problems. Historical examples of simple solutions do not guarantee, what-so-ever, that the next one will just emerge miraculously. Most of those solutions took Herculean efforts, rare ingenuity and talents, and solid funding. If we all just sit and wait, the miracle will never come.

They went to length to refute the existence of altruism. Every good Samaritan did good for some incentives, they claimed. No one is completely altruistic, everyone does it for themselves, at least partially. Altruism is an intention and can never be proven one way or the other, with or without the existence of any incentive. Philosophically, however, what good is for humanity to prove that altruism does not exist?

The epilogue, on monkeys, was extremely entertaining. I was laughing out loud. Good closing.