Wednesday 25 June 2008

Book Review: Freakonomics

I finished reading Freakonomics. It was a fun and informational read. Here's a brief book review from me (copied from my review over at Shelfari).

I enjoyed this book. I can understand how some people may criticise and even hate this book, but I think many people would agree that this book gives you a helpful insight into something they haven't thought about before. The authors, especially Steven Levitt who actually did all the research and presented the various cases, never seemed to enjoyed those controversial and perhaps grim findings at the end of the research. The authors, in my view, only tried to present the case, with a reasonable amount of humility without compromising their findings and convictions.

It reads really easily too. Easy reading doesn't necessarily equate to a great quality of the writing, but the style of the writing in this book delivered its content exceptionally well, and it was pleasant to read.
Also, as I knew almost nothing about the science of economics, it served me by sparking some interest about the subject.

Now, as a Christian, I would recommend that you read this book, not because I endorse the way of thinking in this book, or because I want you to take on the worldview presented in this book. In fact, the book, apart from some presumptions that were required to study various subject from the economic perspectives, merely presents economical findings without suggesting that you need to buy in with a different worldview. I think it is helpful for Christians to consider how non-Christians see the world, ie. to try to understand the secular worldview, and reading this book will help you with that. Ultimately, we already know the secular worldview, because the Bible gives us pretty clear and detailed picture of it, but you will be able to see how it actually plays out in different and modern situations.


Now, here on my blog, I just want to add that I didn't think it was necessary to tell you that you don't have to buy all the ideas Levitt puts forward in the book. I think it's obvious.
See the book over at Shelfari.

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