Freakonomics

Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner has been on my reading list for a long time, and I finally got around to it. It reads as a collection of essays with a casual conversational tone similar to that of Atul Gawande or Malcolm Gladwell. The authors examine disparate fascinating topics from sumo wrestling to children names to drug dealing in an economic and statistical light to draw fascinating sociological conclusions about motivation, incentive, family, and occupation. Do teachers cheat? How are real estate agents motivated to sell your house for more? Can we be good parents? I highly recommend this is a non-fiction read. Understanding that people act on incentive has changed how I view much of what I do now. At 6pm, it's probably better for patients if I stopped by their room to check in and see how they are doing. Even if it is merely a social visit, it builds rapport and strengthens the therapeutic relationship. But the incentive to go home at that time, driven by hunger, fatigue, stress over an exam makes such an act of charity hard to accomplish. Can doctors really be selfless?

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