41. The Folly of Prediction

Freakonomics Radio

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4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2011

⏱️ 57 minutes

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Summary

Human beings love to predict the future, but we're quite terrible at it. So how about punishing all those bad predictions?

Transcript

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0:00.0	We are found the witch, my weebun!
0:03.1	BAM!
0:04.1	What does it mean to be a witch exactly in Romania?
0:08.6	Are these people that we know here as psychics or fortune tellers?
0:11.4	Are they different something?
0:12.8	I don't know how is a fortune teller in the United States, but here generally they are
0:19.4	a woman of different ages.
0:21.6	They can...
0:23.6	They say they can cure some diseases.
0:26.7	They can bring back your husband or your wife or they can predict your future.
0:35.2	Who is a typical client for which?
0:37.6	There are quite a lot of politicians who are going to witches.
0:41.5	You know that France president Nicolas Arcosi, he went to witches last years ago and our president
0:50.2	in Romania and very important politicians from different parties.
0:55.1	They are going to witches.
0:56.8	Some of them they were obliged to recognize they went to witches.
1:01.4	Some of them it's an off the record information, but me being a journalist I know that information.
1:08.8	Vlad Mixich is a reporter in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
1:12.9	He knows a good bit about the witches there.
1:15.5	Quite a lot of them they are quite rich.
1:18.2	They have very big houses with golden roof tops and a lot of the Romania's they are living
1:27.6	in small apartments in blocks.
	...

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