tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post7597519430250750371..comments2024-03-27T15:44:43.564-08:00Comments on What Do I Know?: Does "Cultures of Honor" Explain Southern Murder Style? - More From OutliersStevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-31729209979862626612013-11-12T15:51:20.763-09:002013-11-12T15:51:20.763-09:00Geoff, I agree that 'Outliers' stimulates ...Geoff, I agree that 'Outliers' stimulates one to think beyond the every day. And I'm not saying he's wrong, just that he leaps from hypothesis to fact way too fast. If he stayed with hypothesis, I'd have no problem. It's interesting speculation. <br />To the extent that he gets people to think, that's great. To the extent he gets people to replace one wrong theory for another one, it isn't. After the Asiana air crash, I did a <a href="http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2013/07/asiana-crash-and-malcolm-gladwells.html" rel="nofollow"> lengthy post on his chapter on the ethnic theory of plane crashes.</a> One reader directed me to the Ask a Korean blog which went through Gladwell's chapter and pointed out one problem after another. I urge you to read the Ask a Korean link. It suggests my instinct to raise questions here about Gladwell were good ones.<br /><br />After that I started looking even more closely. Gladwell seems to get an idea and then he gathers the evidence that supports it but he doesn't deal with the kinds of questions I raised that challenge the theory. His stuff sounds good, and is truly fascinating, but it's also pretty shallow research. Just because an explanation is plausible and explains things well, doesn't make it true. <br /><br />But, if it weren't interesting, I wouldn't have spent as much time as I did on Gladwell - several long posts.<br /><br />I do appreciate your taking the time to write a thoughtful comment. It made me go back and look at what I wrote and think about it again. <a href="http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2013/07/asiana-crash-and-malcolm-gladwells.html" rel="nofollow">Check out the Korean Pilot chapter and Ask a Korean's response.</a> I should put that link up in the post as well. Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-38865964421890285742013-11-12T13:44:25.056-09:002013-11-12T13:44:25.056-09:00Anonymous, I didn't detect anything in Gladwel...Anonymous, I didn't detect anything in Gladwell's piece that spoke of success -- if it was there it was certainly tangential to his main point. <br /><br />WDIK, speaking as a Graham (epitomizes the Border Reiver), and Wallace (no milquetoasts there either), I can see the point Gladwell is making -- particularly when the Scotch Irish in America were socially isolated and looked down upon, and geographically isolated to boot. I think that a good part of Gladwell's point is that the social and geographic isolation encouraged continuation of familial traits rather than the assimilation that you might have had if the social and geographic isolation had not been present. <br /><br />Also, please remember that Gladwell's job is getting people to think outside the box, not to be a social scientist. I found "Outliers" to be generally helpful, personally.Geoff Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17447466986686197032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-40714728666531033602012-12-28T00:21:57.672-09:002012-12-28T00:21:57.672-09:00Perhaps Gladwell is best proven wrong by counting ...Perhaps Gladwell is best proven wrong by counting the number of successful doctors, lawyers, teachers, and professors who are direct descendents of participants in the Turner-Howard feud. Their names may be Jones, Caywood, or Blanton now; but they are still direct descendents of the Turners and Howards. My great-grand mother was born in 1866. Her mother said that famous quotation. I was 16 when she died at 100; I knew her well. Just check the successful heirs to disprove Gladwell.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com