More Book Commentary

I wanted to finish a few thoughts about Denialism. The remainder of the book deals with:
Ch4. Alternative medicine - a little slow for me, already knew most of it was snake oil. If people waste thier money that's their prerogative I guess. I liked that he referred to it one time as mysticism, something that I started calling it a while ago. It did convince me to never buy multivitamins again. Americans are simply not vitamin deficient (Dr. Goode confirmed this one for me).

Ch5. Race issues in medical research/practice - a bit interesting, but this chapter was pretty slow for me.

Ch6. Riding the Exponential - Here Specter gives an overview of the cutting edge of genetic engineering/molecular biology. Some truly amazing things are possible with a DNA sample from a simple cheek swab. For a few hundred dollars you can get a thorough report on everything from eye-dominance and ability to taste bitter flavors to your propensity for a host of diseases (heart attack, stroke, cancer, Alzheimers, etc.)

I would recommend this book simply for the chapter on organic food. I think there are many who would change their minds about this fad (hopefully) if they understood all its implications.


Freakonomics

Got this one for Christmas and actually didn't like it as much as I had expected. It was plenty entertaining at times, but the lack of a central theme (which the intro duly warns of) left it feeling a bit like a bathroom reader. I think many of Guisblends readers have read it, so I won't spent too much time on it.

The book (co-written by an economist and a journalist) addresses somewhat random questions like the rigging of sumo wrestling matches, the finances of a crack dealing gang, and the effects of legalized abortion on crime rates. While much of the data is compelling, multiple regression is a side of economics with which I'm never comfortable. You can artificially hold constant every variable you can think of, but in the social sciences you can never really be sure about causality. As another economist noted about the abortion issue, "I have gone over this paper..at great length, and for the life of me I can't see anything wrong with it. On the other hand, I don't believe a word of it."

A couple of my favorite lines:

After commenting on historical examples of foolishness.
"But we too embrace faulty causes, usually at the urging of an expert proclaiming a truth in which he has a vested interest."

Describing how a parenting expert tries to promote his theory.
"His best chance of doing so is to engage the public's emotions, for emotion is the enemy of rational argument."

Unfortunately the economy as well as politics run on emotion.