Full disclosure: I haven't read any.
But I usually have Gladwell thrown in my face by people whose opinions I don't like and whose arguments are unsound.
So this is probably misplaced schadenfreude, but it's still schadenfreude.
I'm still pissed off about that Jonah Lehrer thing.
His shtick drives me nuts, so schadenfreude is enough for me to share. Breezing through, some of these transgressions seem small, some larger. All could easily be corrected for with a simple reference. Why do people seem to have an aversion to referencing source material? Gladwell was apparently cribbing from source material, putting most of that he cribbed into his own words, and then not citing. That's sloppy and dishonest. Why isn't there an editorial search engine that checks all text? Why doesn't Google offer a one-click service to publishers as a product?
A cynic would argue that there is more value in shining it on and that what you don't know won't hurt you. It's not like Jonah Lehrer had to give all the money back. It's not like the publishers didn't keep the lions' share of the proceeds from his books. I bought two Lehrer audiobooks. Nobody's offered me a refund. A realist would argue that Google's model is anything but B2B and that they digitized the world's libraries first and then asked for forgiveness later. Having recently read a book on Google, I don't get a sense that they value publishers or see any benefit in making nice with them.Why isn't there an editorial search engine that checks all text? Why doesn't Google offer a one-click service to publishers as a product?
You should try suing! If Templeton Rye had to pay a class action fine for not really making their whiskey "by hand", then why shouldn't Lehrer's publisher be on the hook for not really doing research by hand?I bought two Lehrer audiobooks. Nobody's offered me a refund.
For the record, whatever Templeton is using, it tastes damned good. I just finished a bottle two nights ago. Really tasty imo.If Templeton Rye had to pay a class action fine for not really making their whiskey "by hand"
Wow, you're not kidding -Knew that a bunch of whiskeys were made from Indiana based spirits, but I didn't realize there were class-action lawsuits.
I've always enjoyed it. I came across that story yesterday when reading about a copycat lawsuit against Maker's Mark. WTF does "handmade" even mean with regard to whiskey? What utter nonsense.
He's like a long form TED talk, from what I gather. I've also never read any. I won't, because I find that most of the time when Outliers is thrown in my face, it typically comes from people who I find insufferable, mostly psuedointellectual types who think that reading pop-sci is "research". Maybe that's a bad reason to dismiss the guy, but I'm not perfect.But I usually have Gladwell thrown in my face by people whose opinions I don't like and whose arguments are unsound.