Freakonomics

I have come to realize that much of what I post on here has to do with movies or books. It is therefore apparent that books and flix have a big impact on my thoughts and life. Having just finished Freakonomics, a book about economics and studies on interesting statistics, it has made me feel that indeed I do think differently than most people. The book goes on about how many people are influenced by "experts" who advise us how to do everything from raise our children to what food we should eat to be thin. The statistics show that rarely do these experts really know what they are talking about, and that "gut" feel and "conventional wisdom" is often wrong. It was a fun read that made me think about things, and ask new questions. It made economics seem fun and made me want to do studies of my own to find answers, or correlations, to interesting questions. So here is a list of some questions/situations I would love to gather data to investigate:

- Are second and further generation Mormons more successful (probably not the right word, as we would probably study income) than a group of non-Mormon peers, or even first-generation Mormons?
- What are the most common Mormon names? For high income, middle income, and low income? How do these compare with mainstream American names?
- What religions in America really draw the most active participation (i.e. attend church regularly)?
- Which religions tend to have their descendents stay that religion? Leave that religion?
- Do temple marriages tend to have lower divorce rates? Are divorce rates among Mormons influenced by: the husband having served a mission? Conversion of one or both of the spouses? Temple attendance?
- How has Mormon culture been influenced, if at all, by its global expansion?

These would be fun studies with interesting results I am sure. This book reminded me of how interesting life really is. I will be blogging on another topic, "Intelligent Design," soon, which has also been a great topic of discussion with many of my colleagues at work. This topic has provided me with more opportunities to discuss my religion and beliefs than any other topic in recent history. It has been a lot of fun.