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Isn't most science in the "wow isn't that surprising" genre? I feel like my whole life science has pretty much been "hmm... wouldn't have guessed that". Basic
by kenjackson 2y ago
Isn't most science in the "wow isn't that surprising" genre? I feel like my whole life science has pretty much been "hmm... wouldn't have guessed that". Basic facts like fire burning oxygen -- I remember literally as a kid thinking -- of all the things it consumes what we also breathe? Or gravity being a function of mass -- that one still trips me a little bit.
I think what these authors do is apply science to human interactions -- a tilt toward social science -- but science to me is usually surprising. (Or I'm just really bad at science).
- vundercind 2y agoFreakonomics is less “check out this surprising science!” and more “economist makes spurious but cute connections based on way too little information over and over—the book!”
- kelipso 2y agoHave to push back on this. When you are learning a subject, you learn a lot of surprising things. But you learn enough that you have a good model in your head and a good intuition, then things that are surprising to you remain improbable.