Freakonomics

Je viens de terminer ce livre et c'est excellent. Je suis un grand fan des livres de Malcom Gladwell (Blink, Outliers, Tipping Point) et j'ai enfin trouvé un livre qui est du même genre et du même niveau. L'auteur utilise des outils d'économie pour examiner notre société et découvre des connections surprenantes. Saviez-vous que le niveau de crime n'a jamais été aussi bas au États-Unis et d'après Steven D. Levitt, ce serait dû a la légalisation de l'avortement? A lire.

Plus de details

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This is different quotes or notes from the book that I find interesting.


"A long line of studies, including research into twins who were separated at birth, concluded that genes alone are responsible for perhaps 50% of a child's personality and abilities. "

Parenting:
(...)She argued that parents are wrong to think they contribute so mightily to their child's personality. This is a cultural myth. Actually, top-down influence of parents is overwhelmed by the grassroot effect of peer pressure, the blunt force applied each day by friends and schoolmates.

Education:
A child whose parents are highly educated typically does well in school. A family with a lot of schooling tends to value schooling. Parents with higher IQs tend to get more education, and IQ is strongly hereditary.

On School performance:
Moving to a better neighborhood doesn't improve a child's chance in school.

"...Students from rural areas tend to do worse than average (...) while urban children tend to score higher than average."