Sometimes, the facts will freak you out

At the 1:23 mark of the official trailer “Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing,” the camera briefly lingers on a shelf of Gladwell’s fabulous books. To the immediate left of his writings is a title that almost jumps off the shelf: FREAKONOMICS.

Gladwell fans are likely familiar with the freaky title, as well. Written by a pair of Steves — Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner — Freakonomics has been rocking conventional wisdom since 2005.

“Prepare to be dazzled,” Gladwell himself said of the book.

“We are all Freakonomists now,” wrote The Washington Post.

“Freakonomics educates, surprises, and amuses,” concluded The Economist.

And The Wall Street Journal decreed: “Genius…has you gasping in amazement.”

Why, you might reasonably ask, are Malcolm Gladwell and a couple of guys who made up a cool word taking up valuable real estate on a community newspaper’s Opinions page? And the reasonable answer might be, Because all of us should be interested in exploring the “why” and the “how” behind the “what,” particularly in this age of data captures, cute cat videos, political echo chambers and fake news.

That’s how Gladwell has carved out a very good living while improving understanding, helping millions of readers see everyday stuff from new and often tantalizing perspectives. And it’s the grist for Freakonomics’ subtitle: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything.

Start with this concept: “If morality represents how people would like the world to work, then economics shows how it actually does work.”

Then add: “Conventional wisdom is often wrong.”

This is not to say that Freakonomics is for everyone. If you don’t want some of your most cherished beliefs and closely held “facts” seriously challenged, run the other way as fast as you can.

How did Norma McCorvey take a big bite out of violent crime a generation after her famous court case? Is it safer to send your young child to a friend’s house with a swimming pool or with guns in the home? How important is good parenting to children’s success in life?

These are just a few of the topics tackled with hard data, leaving emotions and “conventional wisdom” on the cutting-room floor. The art of freakonomics has little to do with money; it has everything to do with getting to the root of why some things are what they are, which is the only way to predictably effect positive change.

And that’s something the world could really use right now.