Why Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms Analysis

The principle focus of chapter three,“Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms?”is the emphasis on conventional wisdom, or more specifically, that conventional wisdom is often false. Simply defined, conventional wisdom is “convenient, comfortable, and comforting—though not necessarily true.” The authors explain that we usually associate truth with convenience, or that we are readily able to accept that which we can understand. However, the authors reason that simply because we understand something does not mean it is true. The authors debunk the conventional wisdom through various examples, such as those of crack dealing millionaires, homelessness, and women’s rights activists. It is through these examples that the authors also explain

In fact, it was later discovered that the statement was a fabrication, rather than data. Therefore, although the aberrational statement caused alarm and possibly fear, it was not reliable evidence as to the actual number of homeless people in America. However, this would deem conventional wisdom since it was an easy and impactful number expressed to alarm all Americans. Finally, women’s rights activists also use conventional wisdom to gain support. According to Freakonomics, “Women’s rights advocates, for instance, have hyped the incidence of sexual assault, claiming that one in three American women will in her lifetime be a victim of rape or attempted rape.” Freakonomics discloses that the figure is actually an estimated one in eight, but “advocates know that it would take a callous person to publicly dispute their claims.” In other words, the activists exploit people’s moral and social incentives to gain importance and attention while simultaneously eliminating opposition. Although the advocates are gaining awareness for a positive movement, they still use conventional wisdom and the media to do so. So what makes conventional wisdom troublesome to defuse? Well, it is the experts and journalists who architect