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All of this is unsurprising, given Gladwell's process: 1. Take research findings in psychology, sociology, etc., all fields which are having big replication pr
by pjscott 7y ago
All of this is unsurprising, given Gladwell's process:
1. Take research findings in psychology, sociology, etc., all fields which are having big replication problems.
2. Pick out findings that are surprising enough to write a pop-science book about. These are less likely to be true -- that's why they're surprising.
3. Oversimplify for popular consumption, sound very confident, and omit things that don't fit the story. (This makes for a much better read, as epistemically sinful as it may be.)
Each step makes good commercial sense, and I can't hate him for it, but the resulting books are unlikely to be Actually True.
- kodebrew 7y agoI definitely agree with this. I have to say though, I really enjoyed Blink and the storytelling around that. I visited the statue from the first chapter in the story and marvelled at how researchers "just believed" it was fake. Sometimes pop-psychology, if it gets us more interested in subjects, may not be that harmful.
- cma 7y agoI think I read somewhere that he took speaking fees from tobacco and amphetamine companies and wrote positively about them.
- germanjoey 7y agoYep. Read about it here: http://shameproject.com/profile/malcolm-gladwell-2/ http://shameproject.com/profile/malcolm-gladwell-2/
- pjscott 7y agoI looked it up, and it may be so -- but every public figure has scandalous accusations, and these don't seem very strong. Is there something unusual in this case?
- guywithabike 7y agoThat’s a pretty serious accusation to make with zero attribution or sourcing.
- cma 7y agoLooks like someone found a link above, I think that is what I read in the past.
- jjeaff 7y agoShaming someone for taking speaking fees from Philip Morris, I can see a moral problem. But calling a pharmaceutical company an "amphetamine company" seems a bit obtuse. For one, amphetamines are commonly prescribed by doctors and are used to successfully treat a lot of serious problems with patients. Secondly, those companies makes lots of other drugs too. But I guess it doesn't sound as bad if you say he accepted money from "insulin companies".
- throwaway99755 7y agoYup, Gladwell also wrote how “Korean culture” was the reason for the Asiana 214 plane crash. What I find interesting is that people who discount most of Gladwell’s theories, will oftentimes agree with others, as long as it confirms their own biases.
- Synaesthesia 7y agoFrom what I heard of the account of that, he wasn't wrong. I mean Korean airlines specifically changed their policy after that crash to make it easier for co-pilots to correct their pilots. I stand corrected if this isn't the case.
- Hnrobert42 7y agoWhile what you say may be true, it doesn’t prove Korean culture was the primary cause of the crash.
- throwaway0908 7y agoHaving worked at a large Korean company for a time, it's very easy to see how Korean culture leads to terrible outcomes. Leadership is non-existent - competence is secondary compared to seniority to a degree unseen in the western world. I, for one, will never fly on a Korean airline even today.