Dubner's Conventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom is defined as “the generally accepted belief, opinion, judgment, or prediction about a particular matter” by the Merriam Webster dictionary. “Conventional wisdom” is usually spread through beliefs, whether true or not, that are spread throughout all of society, especially by modern media outlets. Levitt and Dubner make their argument by expressing how the term conventional wisdom was first used by economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who stated that “[conventional wisdom] must be simple, convenient, comfortable, and comforting - though not necessarily true."

Levitt and Dubner claim that most experts will make up statistics in order to benefit their personal agenda, proven throughout decades, like when homeless advocate

In chapter one, Dubner and Levitt introduce the topic of incentives which “is a bullet, a lever, a key: an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation.” The question asked in the novel is, “Who cheats?” Relating back to the topic of incentives, the book discusses how with proper motivations, all can be moved to cheat. This begins with the argument that “with high-stakes testing so radically changed the incentives for teachers that they too now have added reason to cheat.” Teachers are offered promotions or raises if their students test high. The teachers of students who do not test well will cheat in order for their students to do miraculously well on exams. For example, the novel discusses a story told by a fifth grade student in Oakland who recently went home and told her mother that her “super-nice teacher” had the answers for the state exam written on the chalkboard. The conversation of cheating continues as the authors say, “If it strikes you as disgraceful that Chicago schoolteachers… will cheat- a teacher, ater all, is meant to instill values along with the facts- then the thought of cheating among sumo wrestlers may also be deeply disturbing.” A sumo wrestler maintains a ranking that affects the amount of income they receive, and how large an entourage they carry. Sumo wrestlers who have a higher ranking and who will still keep their ranking if they let their opponents win, will cheat to let them