SuperFreakonomics Discussion Questions
Thank you so much for ordering discussion questions from
www.BookClubClassics.com. I hope these questions add to
your club’s enjoyment of the work.
Please feel free to email any questions or concerns before your
club meets and then any feedback afterwards:
(kgalles@msn.com or BookClubClassics@q.com).
I promise that any suggestions will be used to strengthen future
guides, and I would love to use any positive quotes on my web
site.
I offer full discussion guides and discussion questions on over
30 titles, including classic favorites and contemporary hits (like
A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Wondrous Life of Oscar
Wao). Please visit my site for ideas on what to read next, too!
Again, thank you for your support and feel free to order another
customized kit in the future -- I would love to work with you
again. Feel free to sign up for free email updates, too.
Sincerely,
Kristen Galles
SuperFreakonomics Discussion Questions
The following questions approach Super Freakonomics from a number of different
angles and are written to encourage discussion, as well as help readers appreciate
the work as a whole.
Since a good discussion tends to start with our “heads” and end with our “hearts,”
you may want to save subjective opinions of taste until after you have discussed
the more objective elements of the work’s merits. It is tempting to begin with,
“What did everyone think?” But if a number of people really didn’t like the work,
their opinions may derail a discussion of the work’s merits. (Please notice the
Wrap up questions at the end).
On the other hand, I recommend starting with a few accessible questions (Warm up
questions) and asking every member to respond to ensure that all voices are present
and heard from the very beginning. Just a few suggestions! Enjoy!
Warm up questions:
 Had anyone read Freakonomics or similar books (like Malcolm Gladwell’s
Outliers or Tipping Point)? How did this one compare with regard to the
“surprise factor”?
 Why did your book club choose to read this work of nonfiction (rather than
fiction or another more traditional book club choice)?
 Which chapter did you find most engaging?
 This work is somewhat bound by culture and time period. Will it be as
relevant in 50 years?
1) At the very end of the Introduction, the authors state, “Many of our findings may
not be all that useful, or even conclusive. But that’s all right. We are trying to start
a conversation, not have the last word. Which means you may find a few things in
the following pages to quarrel with. In fact, we’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
Which of their findings (if any) did you find most surprising or least credible?
2) The authors state in the Introduction that “most of the stories fall into one of two
categories: things you always thought you knew but didn’t; and things you never
knew you wanted to know but do.” Which stories fit either criteria the best for
you?
3) In chapter one, the authors examine diverse careers from prostitutes to real
estate agents to teachers and find that there is still a measureable gap in the income
of men and women -- to the extent that if a man becomes a woman, s/he will earn
less as the new gender. What seems to account for this persistent gap? Also, were
you surprised to learn that men may value money as an incentive more than
women do?
4) The focus of this first chapter is prostitution. The authors note that with regard
to illegal crime, society tends to punish the “dealers” (whether of drugs or sex)
much more aggressively than the customers, despite the fact that customers greatly
out number the dealers and have a great incentive not to get caught. Why do you
think law enforcement continues to focus on the source, rather than the cause, of
vice?
5) The second chapter is titled “Why Should Suicide Bombers Buy Life
Insurance?” and opens with a description of the “relative age effect” describing
various scenarios from the risks of being born during Ramadan or after a flu
epidemic to why so many successful athletes are born during the first few months
of the year. The chapter then segues to terrorism and presents what might be an
initially surprising fact that terrorists tend to be well-educated, middle to highincome males: “Civic passion on steroids.” (63).
What did you find most surprising about the findings in this chapter? Are you now
more or less worried about terrorism? Why should the title of this chapter
probably make us feel better about the possibility of future terrorism attacks?
6) Chapter 3 focuses on human behavior – and whether it is ever truly altruistic or
apathetic or merely a reaction to incentive and context. The primary example in
this chapter is the murder of Kitty Genovese by Winston Moseley in 1964. Were
you familiar with this case and with the most recent research findings? Which
surprised you more, the original assumptions of extreme apathy or the most recent
version of the crime? Why do you think Levitt and Dubner use this case to frame
their chapter on experimentation and context? The authors conclude that People
aren’t “good” or “bad.” People are people, and they respond to incentives. They
can nearly always be manipulated – for good or ill – if only you find the right
levers.
Do you agree with this behaviorist theory of human nature?
7) After reading chapter 3, do you believe the U.S. should reconsider its policy on
compensating organ donors? Why/not?
8) How did you respond to the concept of “rational behavior” as act[ing] as we do
because, given the choices and incentives at play in a particular circumstance, it
seems most productive to act that way”? Do you believe this definition describes
most of your actions and the actions of those around you? Can you think of an
example where this does not apply?
How about their perception of altruism as You give not only because you want to
help but because it makes you look good, or feel good, or perhaps feel less bad?
9) In chapter 4, an additional element is added to the above concept of “rational
behavior:” Behavior change is hard… and getting [people] to change their
behavior, even with a fiercely rational argument, isn’t easy.” So, if we accept the
premise from chapter 3 that behavior change is greatly influenced by context and
incentives, how should we approach those in our lives (children, coworkers) whose
behaviors we would like to influence?
11) In chapter 5, a number of surprising solutions to global warming are discussed
from eating less meat to higher taxes on polluters to a the “garden hose to the sky”
(i.e. “stratospheric shield for climate stabilization” or Budyko’s Blanket) to
eighteen mile high smoke stacks to the creation of man-made oceanic clouds.
Which ideas were most surprising? Most repugnant? Most appealing? Which of
these theories do you think may have a chance of implementation and why?
Wrap up Questions!
1. What of the observations in SuperFreakonomics was the most useful/farreaching?
2. Would you recommend SuperFreakonomics to others? (Why/not) Beyond
friends and family members, who else do you wish would read this book and
why?
3. What would have strengthened SuperFreakonomics?