tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post7427488245235815283..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Gladwell on GladwellUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-28896028784290199822013-10-02T14:15:16.677-07:002013-10-02T14:15:16.677-07:00http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/01/3663977/in-h...http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/01/3663977/in-hollywood-fight-over-charter.html<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-25176563758573766322013-09-29T17:45:55.398-07:002013-09-29T17:45:55.398-07:00"The take away here is what?"
Gladwell ..."The take away here is what?"<br /><br />Gladwell is a dilettante and proud of it. We already knew the first part.<br /><br />Gilbert P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-4367904546570300352013-09-29T16:54:09.628-07:002013-09-29T16:54:09.628-07:00The David of the Bible was actually a ferocious wa...The David of the Bible was actually a ferocious warrior who obviously started young. Poor Goliath never knew what hit him.Dutch Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02687679491743923216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-31174938072068713992013-09-29T16:08:49.734-07:002013-09-29T16:08:49.734-07:00Bias is bad? Not if empirical evidence reinforces ...Bias is bad? Not if empirical evidence reinforces it.ricpichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01321511130788764861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-22656917350897147502013-09-29T15:22:20.846-07:002013-09-29T15:22:20.846-07:00Steve, your commentary sounds positively bromantic...Steve, your commentary sounds positively bromantic.Laguna Beach Fogeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08027025872132699493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-91226192494573406042013-09-29T15:10:30.622-07:002013-09-29T15:10:30.622-07:00Slate should sponsor a debate between Steve and Ma...<i>Slate should sponsor a debate between Steve and Malcolm Gladwell</i><br />do you notice the increasing trend of msm disabling or removing comment sections - Popular science just did away with it, nyt is phasing it out.<br /><br />Why give the megaphone to anyone who questions the narrative?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-45036624130307838362013-09-29T13:30:10.999-07:002013-09-29T13:30:10.999-07:00There's actually a pretty clear choice for tal...There's actually a pretty clear choice for talent-deficient basketball teams--and it ain't speeding the game up or challenging the more athletic, skilled players 1v1 over the length of the court. <br /><br /><br />what you want to do (minus some bizarre comparative advantage that would kind of negate the premise of "less talented") is increase variance, right?<br /><br />ok, there are two ways to do that. first, slow the game down. and i mean that quantitatively since in basketball--unlike golf or tennis or baseball--you can partially control the number of possessions in a game. so if your team is worse you want fewer possessions to increase your odds of lucking out. I have literally no chance against Lebron James one-on-one but I might have a 20% chance if the contest is one unguarded 27' jump shot.<br /><br /><br />the second way to increase variance is to build the game around three point shots. shooting long range jump shots is a somewhat isolated event in basketball that can reduce your opponents advantages and hide your weaknesses to an extent. we cant really take this to the extreme--lebron james could completely prevent me from making a jump shot--but we can say that in practice shooting is fairly independent; it's not as independent as free throw shooting but on any given night jj redick could be 11-14 or 3-15 against the exact same defense. Post defense against Kareem or a test of athleticism (speed and length, driving 1v1, etc.) against Jordan and Pippen is much less independent of defense and talent matchups. <br /><br />So we have the blueprint: slow the game down (this also helps negate any disadvantage in depth), hit your three point shots, and pack your defenders in to take away the drive from superior athletes and the easy dunks from superior post players. Make them take three point shots, too, since they wont be using their size or speed or ball-handling skill advantages when they're just shooting from distance.<br /><br />Pray the variance gods are in your favor and they miss more jump shots than you on that day; pass go; collect your trophy.<br /><br /><br />oh, and three point shots also lead to longer (ie, more random) rebounds which also narrows the talent/size gap in that area.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-16084648198734519652013-09-29T12:48:05.193-07:002013-09-29T12:48:05.193-07:00The WSJ did an exceptionally fine job of summing u...The WSJ did an exceptionally fine job of summing up Gladwell's oeuvre to date:<br />http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304713704579093090254007968.htmlJeeveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00127956739874100978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-58361512904086139162013-09-29T12:21:07.801-07:002013-09-29T12:21:07.801-07:00If every decision he makes is hopelessly corrupted...If every decision he makes is hopelessly corrupted, what makes him think that his research assistants will be any less corrupt? If he can't determine who will be a good assistant, why should he think that his assistants would be any better at the task?<br /><br />What a curious lack of self-awareness on his part.Melendwyrhttp://occludedsun.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61395084005455777632013-09-29T11:32:34.182-07:002013-09-29T11:32:34.182-07:00The take away here is what?The take away here is what?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-86099019403346792792013-09-29T09:47:43.954-07:002013-09-29T09:47:43.954-07:00Ireland is way easier for Galdwell to examine beca...Ireland is way easier for Galdwell to examine because both parties, what ever their grievances, speak the same language(Gaelic being dead for sveral centuries) and at least share big chunks of Western culture and ideals.For the most art you're dealing with people who are mostly rational and relatable to Gladwell's readers. You can walk through Dublin or Belfast today(and back several decades) and not even know there ever were any such trouble at all. Religion is basically absent on both sides sapre a few old angry guys. Suspect there is more acrimony and violence in bars after Man U Premier League soccer matches than there ever will be again regarding loyalty to the Queen. <br /><br />Would note here more people were murdered on 9/11 than in all The Troubles for Bloody Sunday until the Stormont power sharing government came into being. <br /><br />Islamic terrorism share almost nothing with those whom it means to kill and destory. It's culture is alien to that of ity's opponents. Suspect Gladwell yook the easy way out looking at Ireland instead. He did so because he's PC and didn't want to deal with the Islamic backlash his conclusions negative to Islam would inevitably cause. In short he's a coward.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-52418525060552836542013-09-29T07:29:51.116-07:002013-09-29T07:29:51.116-07:00I have read synopses of this fellow's major bo...<i>I have read synopses of this fellow's major books. They are groundbreaking or outside the scope of ordinary ideas.<br /><br />In fact, one of my core beliefs is that no major publishing house has or ever would publish truly groundbreaking ideas. </i><br /><br />So how did he get published? Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09055468613470143350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77712578772364934662013-09-29T06:59:07.759-07:002013-09-29T06:59:07.759-07:00Steve wrote:
Gladwell does not have a gigantic ego...<br />Steve wrote:<br /><i>Gladwell does not have a gigantic ego. He sees himself as a sort of super-publicist for all these brilliant but overlooked publicists and consultants. </i><br /><br />Douglas Rushkoff has made <a href="http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2010/01/11/3740434-an-interview-with-douglas-rushkoff-about-his-fascinating-book-life-inc-how-the-world-became-a-corporation-and-how-to-take-it-back" rel="nofollow">a similar observation</a> on Gladwell:<br /><br /><i>Malcolm is talented at what he does - don't get me wrong. But the reasons for his immense popularity, I feel, is that he is applying his insights to the market. The way to make money selling books is to write books that help people make money - or at least make them believe they will make money. Gladwell's books help marketers justify their techniques, and looking at people as unthinking, manipulable cogs. If you really believe that people make decisions in stupid ways, then there's no reason to feel bad about manipulating them to make those decisions in your business's favor.</i><br /><br />Rushkoff is really quite interesting in his own right. He ended up getting caught in that trap Gladwell avoided by using Northern Ireland, rather than Israel, as his case study on terrorism; the trap of mainstream Jewish-American prickliness I mean. Rushkoff wrote a book called <i>Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism</i> and made a comment in a video interview that was picked up and used by David Duke and others. Rushkoff ended up getting a lot of grief for telling tales out of schul. Gladwell seems to be better at dancing farther away from the flames. That's one reason why Rushkoff and Sailer are far more interesting people to read than Gladwell.<br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04017589590769465615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-2529011109896813412013-09-29T04:16:57.885-07:002013-09-29T04:16:57.885-07:00Steve, full court pressure is more college, high s...Steve, full court pressure is more college, high school, and on down. No coach in their right mind would A) full court press with Kareem in his late 30s, B) press in a league with such phenomenal guards on all teams, and C) 12 minute quarters. Showtime Lakers were more fast break. I think Pitino tried pressing with the Knicks and it didn't get him anywhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-3462124940416495842013-09-28T20:57:24.166-07:002013-09-28T20:57:24.166-07:00. . . parts that you wrote in a day are like the 1...<i> . . . parts that you wrote in a day are like the 10,000 hours stuff – I thought no one would ever mention that again.</i><br /><br />Yes, Gladwell wishes people wouldn't keep bringing up that 10,000 hours stuff. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. He just threw it in there. <br /><br /><i>Blink was the same way: we have this faculty – it’s good sometimes, it’s bad sometimes. That’s what the book was about.</i><br /><br />Snap decisions--sometimes totally right, sometimes totally wrong. Who'd a thunk it? I stopped reading Blink halfway through when I realized this was the gist of it.Harry Baldwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-59831548149417748562013-09-28T20:47:36.587-07:002013-09-28T20:47:36.587-07:00The story of David and Goliath is the story of a l...The story of David and Goliath is the story of a large man encumbered by heavy armor and depending on close-quarters weapons facing an opponent skillfully using a deadly long-range projectile weapon, for which he had five loads. <br /><br />Basically, Goliath brought a sword to a gunfight.Harry Baldwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77787795306086078012013-09-28T20:37:04.479-07:002013-09-28T20:37:04.479-07:00In it, he argued that undertalented basketball tea...<i>In it, he argued that undertalented basketball teams should run the full court press against their Goliath rivals: Flummox the big boys by changing all the rules!<br /><br />Except that the full court press notoriously is the overtalented overdog's weapon of choice:</i><br /><br />Right. Anyone who has ever played organized basketball, or really just anyone who has played enough pickup ball, knows that running a full court press is just about the worst strategy imaginable for an undertalented team facing an overtalented one. It's a recipe for disaster - disaster in the form of easy fast break points for the overtalented team as they easily break the press. For an undertalented team, the full court press only works if it does because it's so rarely employed and catches the opposing team by surprise. An overtalented team will adjust immediately and render any consecutive uses ineffectual. <br /><br />The best defensive strategy team for an undertalented team is what coaches have been teaching youth basketball teams for decades: hustling back on D to prevent the overtalented team from getting easy fast break baskets, playing hard nosed, physical, team help defense, boxing out, etc. There's nothing fancy about it. It's just fundamental basketball.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-11714993310651611242013-09-28T20:15:30.483-07:002013-09-28T20:15:30.483-07:00“The problem is, in America, there are all these l...<i>“The problem is, in America, there are all these landmines,” he says. “Like, I wanted to do a chapter on terrorism, and the question is, which example do I use? The example you cannot use is Israel – not because there aren’t a ton of fascinating lessons to be learnt in how Israel has navigated these issues in the course of its history. But it would have gotten politicised – no one would read your book anymore.” So he chose Northern Ireland, because it was “safer”, and because “the willingness to be self-critical in England is much greater than the willingness to be self-critical in America”.</i><br /><br />Is he nuts? You can make a very good living being critical of America in America. What you can't do in America is criticize Israel - at least not if you are a gentile.Average Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12203996329459638052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73245413235761283362013-09-28T20:09:57.017-07:002013-09-28T20:09:57.017-07:00Right. He's not gay. My readers have run into ...<i>Right. He's not gay. My readers have run into him several times in restaurants with nice looking ladies across the table.</i><br /><br />Yes, if there's one thing we can take home from that it's that gay guys don't go out to dinner with their lady friends and that ladies hate going out with their gay male friends more than anything.DYorknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-37659003584940645262013-09-28T20:00:26.199-07:002013-09-28T20:00:26.199-07:00I have read synopses of this fellow's major bo...I have read synopses of this fellow's major books. They are groundbreaking or outside the scope of ordinary ideas.<br /><br />In fact, one of my core beliefs is that no major publishing house has or ever would publish truly groundbreaking ideas. That is a central characteristic of the mainstream publishing industry and similar institutions. Any such groundbreaking ideas would be filtered out.PropagandistHackerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032093796955347846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-15269541947611068482013-09-28T19:30:54.672-07:002013-09-28T19:30:54.672-07:00the 80s showtime lakers playing full court press? ...the 80s showtime lakers playing full court press? when steve-o? <br /><br />and when did they play defense? they just outscored everybody by double digits.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-72483562627969078432013-09-28T19:05:06.706-07:002013-09-28T19:05:06.706-07:00I thought David and Goliath was an early version o...I thought David and Goliath was an early version of Revenge of the Nerds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-90324727539316639322013-09-28T19:00:59.219-07:002013-09-28T19:00:59.219-07:00Isn't this a bit much about Malcolm Gladwell? ...Isn't this a bit much about Malcolm Gladwell? Is this writer really that important?Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-80922615004464570882013-09-28T17:52:34.523-07:002013-09-28T17:52:34.523-07:00I take it that David and Goliath is a metaphor for...I take it that David and Goliath is a metaphor for slightly built, Semitic, sheep-herding hill tribes fighting bigger ploughmen from the coastal plain, namely the Philistines. They spoke an Indo-European language.<br /><br />Since David won, you could argue that this means that anti-Nazi notions were foreshadowed in the Bible. <br /><br />There is a perpetual fascination in trying to learn whether there is any genuine history in the older parts of the Old Testament, or at least allusions to genuine history. deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47957245685922259122013-09-28T16:33:19.504-07:002013-09-28T16:33:19.504-07:00“The mistake is to think these books are ends in t...“The mistake is to think these books are ends in themselves. My books are gateway drugs – they lead you to the hard stuff.” <br /><br /><br />Oh, how droll.<br /><br />Seriously, Slate should sponsor a debate between Steve and Malcolm Gladwell. The format would be a combination of readers questions and questions conceived by Slate's staff writers. The questions would center around two or three main themes at most.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com