Quotes from Steven D. Levitt

As scientists like to say: The plural of anecdote is not data.)

second lesson to be drawn from Kobayashi's success has to do with the limits that we accept, or refuse

From what we've seen personally, the best predictor of success among young economists and journalists is whether they absolutely love what they do. If they approach their job like—well, a job—they aren't likely to thrive.

Herley would like to see a smart computer programmer pretend to be dumb in order to outwit a smart scammer who is also pretending to be dumb in order to find a victim who is, if not dumb, then extremely gullible.

Anyway, this is just the latest example of why I never trust statistics I get from people in the field of medicine, ever.

En las naciones industrializadas, la tasa actual de muerte materna durante el parto es de 9 mujeres por cada 100.000 partos. Hace solo cien años, la tasa era más de cincuenta veces más alta.

The next time you run into a question that you can only pretend to answer, go ahead and say "I don't know"—and then follow up, certainly, with "but maybe I can find out." And work as hard as you can to do that. You may be surprised by how receptive people are to your confession, especially when you come through with the real answer a day or a week later.

The next time you run into a question that you can only pretend to answer, go ahead and say "I don't know"—and then follow up, certainly, with "but maybe I can find out." And work as hard as you can to do that.

Los medios de comunicación necesitan a los expertos tanto como los expertos a los medios. Todos los días hay páginas de periódicos e informativos de televisión que llenar, y un experto que aporte una noticia discordante siempre es bienvenido. Juntos, periodistas y expertos son los artífices de gran parte de la sabiduría conven-cional.

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty.

people respond to incentives—

Pero por supuesto, eso depende de quién lo haga. Si lo hiciera Al Gore, podría conseguir un segundo premio Nobel de la Paz; si fuera Hugo Chávez, probablemente recibiría pronto una visita de los aviones de combate estadounidenses.

Every time we pretend to know something, we are doing the same: protecting our own reputation rather than promoting the collective good.

This theory rapidly became an article of faith because it appealed to the factors that, according to John Kenneth Galbraith, most contribute to the formation of conventional wisdom: the ease with which an idea may be understood and the degree to which it affects our personal well-being.

An opponent who feels his argument is ignored isn't likely to engage with you at all.

As the Inuits say, "Gifts make slaves, as whips make dogs.

Los medios de comunicación necesitan a los expertos tanto como los expertos a los medios.

If you were to assume that many experts use their information to your detriment, you'd be right.

W. C. Fields once said: a thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for.

It is understandable, therefore, that the movement to stop global warming has taken on the feel of a religion. The core belief is that humankind inherited a pristine Eden, has sinned greatly by polluting it, and must now suffer lest we all perish in a fiery apocalypse.

una hamburguesa con queso, como ha calculado el economista Kevin Murphy, cuesta 2,5 dólares más que una ensalada en repercusiones en la salud a largo plazo.

Why I Write for Children," he explained the appeal. "Children read books, not reviews," he wrote. "They don't give a hoot about the critics." And: "When a book is boring, they yawn openly, without any shame or fear of authority." Best of all—and to the relief of authors everywhere—children "don't expect their beloved writer to redeem humanity.

Most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their own interests ahead of others'. This doesn't make them bad people; it just makes them human.

La información es un faro, un garrote, una rama de olivo, en total, un elemento de disuasión, dependiendo de quién la maneje y cómo. La información es tan poderosa que la asunción de información, aun cuando ésta no exista realmente, puede tener un efecto revulsivo.