Sumo Essays

Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, I realized not only what similarities sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common, but also to what lengths they will go to receive an incentive and/or achieve their goals. It details how some teachers and sumo wrestlers cheat for their advantages. In the beginning of the chapter the authors describe the concept of incentives, initially when I began reading I thought to my self “isn’t this chapter about sumo wrestlers and teachers?” Even though it is, the authors decided

Levitt and Dubner classify Freakonomics as a book having “no such unifying theme” (14), but all the unique topics discussed throughout the text connect back together in order to show the hidden side of human nature. The argument that the wide variety of topics and their abstract descriptions all link together draws the attention of a large audience and connects to issues that society is currently facing or has recently confronted. Freakonomics, organized as an argumentative piece, asserts that

the book today to question whether outlawing abortion would cause the crime rate to rise. When discussing how both school teachers and sumo wrestlers cheated in order to make themselves appear better or to get richer, Levitt and Dubner are proving that for school teachers all over the country, not just in Chicago Public Schools; and people all over the world, even sumo wrestlers in Japan; cheating is in human nature. Levitt and Dubner address a wide range of social issues in order to make a larger

In the third chapter of Freakonomics, the question that is asked is “Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?” The first phrase that is brought up in this chapter is “conventional wisdom,” and economist named John Kenneth Galbraith goes into detail and describes this phrase as a type of information, this type of information reinforces one person’s type of interest and well-being. Conventional wisdom is described at convenient and comforting, but it does not always have to be that. It takes

Chapter One- Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers “Economics is, at its root, the study of incentives: how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people need the same thing.” (Levitt/Dubner-16) This quotation lays the foundation for the entire book. Every situation that Levitt and Dubner face in the following chapters revolves around this basic concept of incentives. Sure, it’s an over-simplified explanation, but it immediately gives any layman a grasp on the core of

Freakonomics was written to explain not only economics as the name suggests but also a slew of other topics and fields. Freakonomics discusses everything from the Ku Klux Klan to abortion, while managing to remain a single cohesive text. One thing that helps Freakonomics to remain a single piece of literature is the very distinct voice and writing style that Levitt and Dubner. The distinct writing style and voice also creates a tone that carries through the entire essay adding to the cohesion. Levitt

and present-day sumo wrestlers. Historically the style represented a status symbol of Japanese society because it was a method of using hair to hold a samurai helmet steady atop the head in a battle. Originally the style featured a shaved pate. Whereas nowadays the pate is no longer shaved, the remaining hair is left medium and is usually tied into a small queue which is folded onto the top of the head in the characteristic topknot. In fact the chonmage is of great importance for sumo wrestlers. In

sports based on ancient philosophies to international sports imported from the West. Australia, meet your kindred spirit, a brother in jersey, cleats, sweat, tears and glory. Header 1: Combat Sports Subheader 1: Sumo Wrestling Let’s begin with Japan’s unofficial national sport, sumo wrestling. These larger-than-life wrestlers are the country’s superstars. To watch a dual is to go back in time to ancient Shinto rituals

Sumo wrestling is a type of martial arts and has a lot of Japanese history. Sumo has been around for a long time, historians set out to believe that the origins of sumo date back as far as two-thousand years but sumo only began to flourish as a sport during the early 1600’s (“The History and Traditions of Sumo.”). Sumo was believed to be performed to entertain the gods and for other various important occasions. In earlier times, sumo wrestling was performed as a way

One thing I found very interesting in the section about sumo wrestling was the way the ranking system works. The difference between the most elite and the low ranking wrestlers is shocking. There is a staggering difference between the paychecks, but what shocked me most was that the low ranking sumos are basically slaves to the elite sumos (Levitt & Dubner, 2009). Even though I am not familiar with sumo wrestling, with the help of the statistics provided in the reading and an application

words: freak and economics. Freak, by definition, means abnormality or oddity and most people might familiarize economics solely with finance or commerce. However, Levitt and Dubner break this common misconception and reveal how to world actually works, as opposed to distinguishing everything with morality and how everyone thinks the world should work. Book Report The first major concept that Freakonomics explores is incentives and how our economy revolves around it. We explore our incentives during

around as incentive. The same can be associated with the national sport of Japan. The subsequent brief would be dealing with issue of collusion in Sumo Wrestling linking it to the Self-Determination Theory. Life as sumo wrestler is highly regimented, with rules laid down by the Sumo Association. In recent years, a vast number of controversies have rocked the sumo world having a negative impact on the sport, which is ideally considered so sacrosanct. Even though cheating is highly prevalent in the sports

Throughout all of history, people have always tried to persuade someone to see their point of view. People from all kinds of backgrounds have engaged in such behavior, whether they realize it or not, in order to convince someone else that their opinion is correct. There have been many who have made themselves known by their opinion and power to persuade others such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose words were able to inspire a nation to have a change of heart. Authors, however, make up one of

well as strength. You will have to determine whether you are better suited for Sumo or Conventional

classrooms per year. Those teachers were fired after there was a retest administered since there was enough evidence gathered. The same type of cheating can be found in athletics like in sumo wrestling. Since a sumo wrestlers ranking determines everything for him like how much money, eat, and sleep that the wrestler gets. A sumo wrestler gets his ranking by his performance in elite tournaments that are held throughout the year. If he wins 8 or more of his fights his ranking rises, but if he does not, his

Shintoism is the native religion to the people of Japan. It is centered on the worship of many different kami. Each one rules a separate domain from the sea to creation and death. One single kami rules over all eight million of them, the sun goddess Amaterasu. Yet even with a female being the most important figure women have been barred from participating in religious practices. Even if they are allowed the must go through grueling rituals to ensure that they are worthy of such an opportunity that

When viewing a sumo wrestling match, one may perceive this competition as classic Japanese entertainment while failing to see the underlying religious rituals that have become engrained into the traditional culture of Japan. A sumo match almost always takes place underneath a shrine, and the wrestlers then proceed to perform leg stomping exercises in an attempt to drive evil spirits from the sacred ring. In addition, various purification ceremonies take place in order to cleanse the fighting ring:

In the first chapter of Freakonomics, the question is “What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?” The chapter dives into into a story about economists who tried to find a solution for a daycares problem. The problem the daycare was having is too many parents were picking up their children late when the daycare had a strict policy of picking up the children at four. The economist decided that 20 daycares in Israel would fine $3 for each child that was picked up late. After the parents

The Heian period was denoted as the era of the aristocrats in Japan’s timeline. During this period, women created some of the greatest writing throughout Japan’s history, the most sophisticated and highly desired one being poetry. These poems allowed for an outsider to get an insight of Japan’s society and culture at the time. One of the celebrated author’s of this time was Sei Shōnagon, her most famous work being The Pillow Book. Although her work has been consecutively ridiculed as a poor depiction

someone who is, feel that it is offensive and incomprehensible and that that media portrays this as being the worse thing that’s ever happened in the US, or even in the world. There are certain cultures—like the Japanese culture—that inspire society with Sumo wrestler as a sport. An article