Freakonomics post: Relating Economics/Numbers to Real Life

When looking at statistics and numbers, there is much more tied to them than just the numbers themselves. There is always some reason for the statistics to be the way they are. What Freakonomics sets out to accomplish is to pull the reasoning for each of the statistics and then connect them in a huge web, explaining common phenomena's in society. These explanations always tend to  explain everything from a very odd perspective, one which many people would not see. In the first section, Steven Levitt explains how incentives, a core to economics, can be flawed. One of the strongest examples he presented which resonated with me is teachers and standardized testing. Teachers have cheated just to score better on standardized testing and therefore have done a worse job teaching their students by cutting corners. This example was very relatable to all the readers and therefore made the point on incentives very easy to understand. It also hit home with me, because I have seen many teachers cling to the standards put in place and do a poor job in actually teaching content. By choosing a very relatable example, Levitt is able to convey his point convincingly and effectively. The perspectives that Levitt presents make the reader question daily occurrences, looking at the world differently. This is a very ambitious challenge and I am excited to see how the rest of the book plays out .

A glimpse into a Syrian Tragedy

News desensitizes death. Every single story that comes from the news seems to be something that really isn't too far out of the norm. Every day news is heard about who has been killed in combat, who has been murdered on the street, and which celebrity had left the world either of old age or a tragic ending. It's the daily standard, and because of that we have become accustomed to death occurring often. But what pictures can achieve which text or spoken word cannot, is bring out the true emotions, the unbiased take. This allows the viewer to actually become sensitive to the situation. Syria had been something talked about in the news every day. And although numbers had been attributed to the death count from the tyrannical regime put in place in Syria, one could not really connect those numbers to their own life. This image taken from the Syrian conflict hits every viewer close to home. A child, wounded, in the arms of his father. This is something that not one parent would ever want to have to try to endure. This picture is very relatable to the viewer and creates a very strong connection to the reader without much work at all. The bloody child is the main focus of the picture with the dad weeping over him, it looks as if his world has been turned upside down. This image gives the entire conflict relatable human qualities. No longer are the numbers of the conflict just numbers, they are all human lives and families, everything simply destroyed. Images like these allow readers to further understand tragedy, and put simply, should be a necessity for all stories, so people can better understand what is really happening. 

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/11/best-photos-2012-year-pictures_n_2277480.html#slide=1863854

Wawa vs. Sheetz: Mac vs. PC on the PA convenience store realm

As a Philadelphia suburbanite, Wawa is in my blood. My sister, just cresting the 1 1/2 year old landmark is already chanting "WAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA". Pressing buttons on the elusive touchscreen and then walking out 2 minutes with a perfectly crafted meatball hoagie is just something you can't find anywhere else. Now that I can drive, I find that my money will be thrown out the window, as I am given full freedom to fulfill my wawa addiction, almost as if it is a drug. One time I had visited West Virginia for a cross country race. I remember seeing an obscure place named "Sheetz", to others who come to the Philadelphia area, this is what it must feel to first see Wawa. Sheetz has its own very strong following, though more based in the western portion of PA, like the Flyers and the Pens have their followers. This article was written by Trip Gabriel of the NYT to explain this rivalry to those who live outside of the battleground for these two convenience stores. For me, it was even an eye opening article, as my world only seemed to revolve around Wawa. Starting off the article, and peppered throughout, Gabriel melds an image of each of the two convenience stores and the clientele which frequent them. Wawa grabs the suburban crowd whereas Sheetz is the rural victor. Gabriel also alluded to Mitt Romney's experience at a Wawa when he was campaigning for President. This put the rivalry on the scale at a national level for the audience to better digest and it established the importance of the rivalry. Gabriel provided a map, with the contrasting colors of red and blue, something which seemed like each was representative of one choosing a political party.  This image helped show the spread that existed between the two popular chains. Spattered throughout the piece was quotes from each of the customers, providing a format which would have been similar to a political debate. By the end of the article I felt as if Gabriel was able to turn this rivalry into a political conflict or election, and I left more educated(and satisfied to hear the recognition of my beloved Wawa) on the two  chains. I have always dreamt of moving to other states(namely on the west coast) when I am older, but as I said when asked what I was going to miss most on my trip to Germany this summer, I will always miss Wawa.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/us/10convenience.html?hp

The Cages of Hong Kong

When many think of the only capitalist portion of China, Hong Kong, people think of a city full of beautiful and modern skyscrapers. But there is a darker side to Hong Kong; the cages. Some 100,000 individuals who are less fortunate than the very wealthy of the city live in 6 X 2 1/2 foot cages for about $200 a month. This article, written by Damian Gayle of the UK publication Daily Mail presents a look inside these homes. In the title Gayle utilizes an allusion to the immense number of Louis Vuitton shops in Hong Kong, even exceeding the number in France. This is shocking because  Louis Vuitton is based in France and is a very expensive luxury shop, you would not expect people to be living in cages in such a place. This article is unique in the fact that it presents a great deal of images rather than text. It allows the pictures to speak for themselves, and creates a more effective influence on my emotions. It was very shocking to see an image like this:

I was prompted to think of dogs in dog cages, and to think that this is an entire persons home is incredibly poignant. The collection of images were very effective in sending a visual portrayal of the homes, its was like I could smell the dirty situation that these people live in on a daily basis. Concluding the passage, Gayle provides a quote from a resident, "Sometimes I am worried a cockroach or lizard will crawl into my ear at night." Although this is a very simple statement, it really does create a further feeling of disgust, the thought of having a cockroach or lizard crawl into my ear is well, very scary and gross. People in the US complain about the widening gap between the rich and the poor, but it certainly could me much worse as evident Hong Kong.  This phenomenon hopefully will never spread to the US.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084971/Hong-Kongs-cage-homes-Tens-thousands-living-6ft-2ft-rabbit-hutches.html#axzz2JqSFcpGf