4 ms·

How to read a "Malcolm Gladwell Bestseller": start in the middle; read 20 pages or so; see sloppy reasoning and general lack of substance; don't read it or any

by asdflkj 16y ago

How to read a "Malcolm Gladwell Bestseller": start in the middle; read 20 pages or so; see sloppy reasoning and general lack of substance; don't read it or any of the author's other books again. You'd save yourself a lot of time if you did that, jgrahamc.

fgf 16y ago
I enjoyed the debate between Gladwell and Steven Pinker after Pinker wrote a negative book review. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html... http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/malcolm-gladwell-responds-to-steven-pinker/ http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/malcolm-gladwe...
- barry-cotter 16y ago
  That's not a debate, that's a Pinker curb-stomping Gladwell, hardly surprising when Steve Sailer is entirely capable of doing it.
  - pwhelan 16y ago
    Having just read that, I wouldn't characterize it as "Pinker curb-stomping Gladwell"... at all.
  - fgf 16y ago
    For those about to read: It's true, Gladwell gets pwned. If you want feel sophisticated while quoting the tipping point this will not help.
replicatorblog 16y ago
The sloppy reasoning/lack of substance are features, not bugs. He isn't a serious intellectual gladiator, he is a merchant who makes soundbites that educated, upper middle class people can use to sound intelligent and well read. As long as people view them as such it is not problem. My frustration is when people cite Gladwell's ideas as either 1) the basis for strategic decision making at a business 2) the grounds for a major public policy decisions. On a side note, I'd love to see this kind of breakdown for a lot of the shows on NPR, especially This American Life
- asdflkj 16y ago
  Why are we wasting time on this then? There's nothing new or interesting about making dumb stuff that appeals to dumb people.
- travem 16y ago
  As an interesting book countering the "blink" concept is a book called "Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416531556?ie=UTF8&tag=benmeadowcrho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1416531556 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416531556?ie=UTF8&tag=...

by asdflkj 16y ago

fgf 16y ago

I enjoyed the debate between Gladwell and Steven Pinker after Pinker wrote a negative book review. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html... http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/malcolm-gladwell-responds-to-steven-pinker/ http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/malcolm-gladwe...

barry-cotter 16y ago
That's not a debate, that's a Pinker curb-stomping Gladwell, hardly surprising when Steve Sailer is entirely capable of doing it.
- pwhelan 16y ago
  Having just read that, I wouldn't characterize it as "Pinker curb-stomping Gladwell"... at all.
- fgf 16y ago
  For those about to read: It's true, Gladwell gets pwned. If you want feel sophisticated while quoting the tipping point this will not help.

replicatorblog 16y ago

The sloppy reasoning/lack of substance are features, not bugs. He isn't a serious intellectual gladiator, he is a merchant who makes soundbites that educated, upper middle class people can use to sound intelligent and well read. As long as people view them as such it is not problem. My frustration is when people cite Gladwell's ideas as either 1) the basis for strategic decision making at a business 2) the grounds for a major public policy decisions. On a side note, I'd love to see this kind of breakdown for a lot of the shows on NPR, especially This American Life

asdflkj 16y ago
Why are we wasting time on this then? There's nothing new or interesting about making dumb stuff that appeals to dumb people.
travem 16y ago
As an interesting book countering the "blink" concept is a book called "Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416531556?ie=UTF8&tag=benmeadowcrho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1416531556 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416531556?ie=UTF8&tag=...