41–50 of 65 posts
An Anecdote can have a place and a purpose - heck, that's most of my blog. But the plural of 'Anecdote' is not 'Data'.
What is data more than a plurality of anecdotes? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=239392
That's the problem: interesting data points become anecdotes while uninteresting data points don't, which is why you can't reconstruct the data from the anecdotes.
On Sunday Dave Winer defined "great blogging" as "people talking about things they know about, not just expressing opinions about things they are not experts in." Can we get some more of that, please? Thanks. Irony, defined. :-) I kid. I think Joel's problem here is that he missed the point where any of these guys claimed to be doing anything more than making a bunch of observations. Galdwell certainly isn't science,…
"Galdwell certainly isn't science, but I don't think he proclaims to be either." The problem is that the majority of people will think it is science. It is written in a book, so it has to be true.
Would someone care to define this proper science?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Galdwell certainly isn't science, but I don't think he proclaims to be either." The problem is that the majority of people will think it is science. It is written in a book, so it has to be true.
isn't science must be the new intellectual attack cliché. Would someone care to define this proper science?
This is what has always bothered me Gladwell's writings, and when I see someone list 'Blink' as one of their favorite books it pretty much tells me they are someone of little substance. Gladwell is simply a formula writer (and his speeches follow a similar format) and I find it amazing he has extended his popularity this far.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is data more than a plurality of anecdotes? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=239392
A plurality of anecdotes sampled without bias? That's the problem: interesting data points become anecdotes while uninteresting data points don't, which is why you can't reconstruct the data from the anecdotes.
Books like those you see in the airport, the type that Gladwell, Godin, and the like write, are designed to be science-entertainment. It's just science (or marketing, in Seth Godin's case) as entertainment.
If these sorts of books actually get people interested in and reading about science in the first place, it's awesome! There's no way the general public will read dry academic papers, no matter how scientifically valid they are. If people build up an interest from somewhat exaggerated but entertaining books that introduce certain scientific principles, we are improved as a society.
A lot of essays are extrapolated anecdotes. It's not an intrinsically evil form. You just have to do it right.
If you have real data, and used the anecdote to illustrate it, you're doing it right. If you give us the anecdote, but don't extrapolate to wild grand theories, you're doing it right... simultaneously telling an interesting story and giving people more data points to build up their own understanding of how the world works. If you give us an anecdote, then tag on some theory so that the anecdote isn't mere storytellin…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Galdwell certainly isn't science, but I don't think he proclaims to be either." The problem is that the majority of people will think it is science. It is written in a book, so it has to be true.
isn't science must be the new intellectual attack cliché. Would someone care to define this proper science?
Usually to call something "not science" is to say it is not based on 1) testable, falsifiable hypothesis, 2) accurate data, or 3) an inability to replicate/verify
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have real data, and used the anecdote to illustrate it, you're doing it right. If you give us the anecdote, but don't extrapolate to wild grand theories, you're doing it right... simultaneously telling an interesting story and giving people more data points to build up their own understanding of how the world works. If you give us an anecdote, then tag on some theory so that the anecdote isn't mere storytellin…
I'm not trying to be a wise guy but can you define "real" data?
Gladwell isn't a scientist, as he has said many times. He is inspired by scientists (among other people), but what he actually writes are book-length essays. You're welcome to argue against an essay -- that's what the form is designed to provoke -- and you can do so in several ways: You can write an essay of your own, or you can do a scientific study, or you can even perform a stunt:
After we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the nonexistence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it -- "I refute it thus."
But the modern fashion is to respond to an essay that you don't like by demanding that it dress itself up like a Nature manuscript and then criticizing the flaws in the costume. Which is silly. The more elegant thing to do is to argue with the essay. Write an essay refuting Gladwell. Quote some scientists of your own in the process if it helps. Obviously, debating a guy with the writing chops of Gladwell is a tricky task, but it's better to try (or to remain politely silent and wait for others to try) than to flail around ineffectually.
Or, if you prefer scientific debate to essay-writing, I'm told that Gladwell seems to be trying to provide more footnotes to the science that inspires him. Follow one of those footnotes to the scene of battle, grab a handful of related journal articles, and join the fray. Don't be surprised to find every other scientist on earth alongside you, though. Scientists have a tendency to swarm fields which have been popularized.
Isn't most of what most of Gladwell writes a genralised case of "Alien's cause global warming." http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speech-alienscauseglobalwarmi...