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I can't recommend Talking to Strangers enough. We have a crippling inability of people to read strangers correctly. In addition to amazing testimony and evidenc
by jvanderbot 6y ago
I can't recommend Talking to Strangers enough. We have a crippling inability of people to read strangers correctly. In addition to amazing testimony and evidence, great case studies, the production quality of the audiobook is like a good podcast.
- routerl 6y agoI'll also recommend the actual talking to strangers meetups, though I assume they're on hold due to plague.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- DoofusOfDeath 6y agoCan you give more info on that podcast? I'm finding a bunch with that name.
- GavinMcG 6y agoIt's a book, by Malcolm Gladwell. The comment said the audiobook is like a good podcast.
- Robin_Message 6y agoIf it's a book by Malcolm Gladwell, I can't anti-recommend it enough. All of the Malcolm Gladwell books I've read have been tripe. Unless he has radically improved his writing and grasp of nuance in the last decade (and published retractions of his earlier books), his books are dangerous anti-knowledge which will make you feel smarter but actually be dumber. Gladwell takes an obvious, folksy thing, adds a bit of a twist to it, presents several anecdotes as dramatic stories illustrating his point, then slaps on some "science" to make it seem like its true. It's not. He's just making stuff up that sounds plausible but surprising. Gladwell writes well, and seems believable. That doesn't make him right.
- doublejay1999 6y agoWell, I'm pleased to read this. I say that as someone who fell for the schtick, and he made a couple of sales out of me. He tells a decent story, and you feel like you've learn something after reading him. Scratch below the surface, and it turns out you haven't.
- randycupertino 6y agoAhh! Thank you for finally articulating what has always bugged me so much about his books. I am reading along thinking, "yeah, yeah, this makes sense" and then realizing later that it actually had no depth.
- flycaliguy 6y agoThis is boiler plate Gladwell critique and has been part of his reputation for a long time. Ironically I think we are due for a contrarian shift back to him being brilliant.
- quesera 6y agoI like the term "insight porn" to describe that feeling.
- selimthegrim 6y agoIgon value. Enough said.
- lordnacho 6y agoSomeone here used this brilliant phrase: "Insight Porn"
- frereubu 6y agoWhen studying sculpture a tutor talked to me about people making “things that look like art”, which really stuck with me - they made objects that mimicked what they thought art should be like, but had a kind of conceptual hollowness. I think Malcolm Gladwell is similar in that he produces content that has the appearance of science, but once you start digging it doesn’t hold up. A bit like a version of “truthiness”, except that in his case it’s “scienciness”.
- blablabla123 6y agoYeah I need to check it out. I think it's also that people (me included) are deeply fascinated by the ability the read other people and what they think.