Saturday, November 17, 2007
Chapter 1
I am the type of person who does not like to read novels. I never really buy into author's styles and their imaginations. However, after reading a few paragraphs I knew right away this book would have my attention throughout. The first main topic that this book explains deals with the Chicago Pubic System. The book explains a case study that is done in order to see if teachers cheat in order for their studnets to pass a standerized test. The set up of this cheating test seemed like it would be very successful since they would group the kids on how smart they are and then study the patterns of answers from each kid in each classroom. Making the students take the test again unannounced was a great idea and I think was the best way to catch these teachers. It did not surprise me that so many teachers cheated on these tests. Whenever there is an incentive to do well, people will do anything they can to reach this incentive. Teachers are thought of as very ethical people. The reality is that they are just like every other working person out there, they may like their job but the main reason they have a job is to make money to support their families. And mostly everyone in this world will do everything they can for their families, which includes cheating. In addition, I felt the sumo wrestling example was another interesting example of cheating. Even though when reading this it does seem evident that the sumo wrestlers do cheat, I feel that this idea could be opposed. When someone is 7-7 and is going against a person who has more wins than it is obvious that the 7-7 person has more of an incentive to win. He knows that if he does not win this match that he will not make the money he wants. However, the other person really has no motivation to wrestle in this match. So the 7-7 wrestler has more motivation and this could give him the extra edge he needs in order to win. The reason the wrestler with more wins usually beats the 7-7 wrestler is because he truly is better, but wouldn't those odds be much different when one is playing for so much and the other really has no motivation??
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4 comments:
Ch. 1
I also felt after reading a few pages that this book captured my attention. Mainly this is because the issues the book discusses are issues rarely discussed by others. The analytical approach the authors take to evaluate the situations demonstrates hard evidence in situations where dishonest actions are hard to catch.
I agree. I like the fact they talk alot about racial issues, differences and tensions.
I'm glad you noticed a different reason for one of the trends that these guys are sooo certain about! You're right, the sumos who had to win the match had a MUCH greater incentive to win than the ones who were guaranteed. It may not have benn about cheating at all. One downfall of economists and statisticians is that they see trend were there may not be any at all.
I think you raise a good argument about the sumo wrestlers. It is true that usually the underdog has a lot more motivation to win which could explain the sumo wrestling parody. Just look at this years college football season, many underdogs have knocked off some of the top teams in the country. Basically whn your on top and facing a lesser opponent you tend to relax, thats precisely when the underdog sneaks up on you.
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