3 ms·
What do Sailor's beliefs about an unrelated issue have to do with his analysis of NFL draft positions and performance? Gladwell's retort would have been better
by nixme 17y ago
What do Sailor's beliefs about an unrelated issue have to do with his analysis of NFL draft positions and performance? Gladwell's retort would have been better without that.
- spamizbad 17y agoHow about the fact that Steve Sailer has absolutely no domain knowledge of NFL draft picks besides being (maybe) an American football fan? I'm familiar with Sailer myself, and I'd say anyone who uses him to back up their hypothesis is suspect. Every angle Sailer plays is somehow tied to race and the genetics of race; it's neither objective nor logical.
- zach 17y agoSailer's introduction to many, including myself, was his posting of mile-long screeds, primarily regarding race and IQ, in the comments of Gladwell's blog. He was banned from same and his comments removed in late 2006: http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2006/12/the_lunatic_fri.html http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2006/12/the_lunatic_... He seems to be trying to make a name of himself in part by carrying on a one-sided debate with Gladwell, which in itself makes him a suspect source even if he wasn't already familiar to the blog's long-time readers.
- VictorC 17y agoSailer's posts were not screeds. They were well-argued and relevant, just like his contributions in the current debate. He was not banned. Gladwell made his readers vote whether or not he should stay, and they overwhelmingly voted in support of Sailer. Nor were his comments removed.
- hexis 17y agoThis is an instance of poisoning the well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_the_well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_the_well