Have you read Freakenomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner? If not, you should. It’s a wonderful and fairly quick read that attempts to get at the true cause and effect relationship of everyday things in our world. Yes, I know that’s a pretty obscure description, but the book covers many interesting topics facing our world today. It is the way that Levitt and Dubner examine these topics and the simple, straight-forward stlyle they use to explain their findings that makes the book so intriguing. Moreover, they examine some controversial topics and come to some controversial conclusions.

So not surprisingly, Levitt is being sued by Yale Law School researcher John Lott. The suit states that, “Levitt…defamed [Lott] when he wrote that other scholars had been unable to replicate Lott’s research linking lower crime rates with the right to carry guns.” I know very little about the legal definition of defamation, but doesn’t this sound like little Johnny running to mommy to make her stop little Stevey from saying mean things about him? Regardless of the truthfullness of Lott’s claims, doesn’t this seem a little excessive? I know my mom’s response to little Johnny would be “life’s not always fair”. MY response would be “suck it up”. Yes, maybe that’s a little harsh. But what is this guy really going to accomplish from suing Levitt other than being labeled a whiner?

What do you think?