Comments on: Outliers http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/ Rombo nallavan Tue, 22 May 2012 20:23:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Prabukarthik http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60559 Prabukarthik Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:55:11 +0000 http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60559 bnb I'd mailed you my response to that question.. bnb

I’d mailed you my response to that question..

]]> By: BNB http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60548 BNB Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:28:51 +0000 http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60548 oops, terribly sorry. Seems such an arbit thing to ask in retrospect. Please ignore my previous comment. oops, terribly sorry. Seems such an arbit thing to ask in retrospect. Please ignore my previous comment.

]]> By: BNB http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60533 BNB Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:16:28 +0000 http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60533 Boss, thanks for the response. Wanted to ask you a couple of off-topic questions. (a) What's the best place to buy a digital SLR in chennai ? (b) what's the cheapest SLR you can get in India ? Boss, thanks for the response.

Wanted to ask you a couple of off-topic questions. (a) What’s the best place to buy a digital SLR in chennai ? (b) what’s the cheapest SLR you can get in India ?

]]> By: Prabukarthik http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60524 Prabukarthik Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:46:17 +0000 http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60524 BNB, I've used science fiction mainly in the context of his ability to make mundane stuff very new, interesting and stimulating. I agree with your stance on back scratching in academic circles...but i felt gladwell has stretched himself on a few things i.e students who gain an advantage by virtue of physical maturity in a class. I am somehow not so convinced by that argument. He starts with an advantage in sports and goes about mentioning this may well stretch to other areas as well. Again, reality I suppose is a bit more complicated than that. My favorite chapter was the one on plane crashes. Its scary to know that one plane had gone down because of fuel shortage and the first officer could not communicate this to the ATC crew. BNB,

I’ve used science fiction mainly in the context of his ability to make mundane stuff very new, interesting and stimulating.

I agree with your stance on back scratching in academic circles…but i felt gladwell has stretched himself on a few things i.e students who gain an advantage by virtue of physical maturity in a class. I am somehow not so convinced by that argument. He starts with an advantage in sports and goes about mentioning this may well stretch to other areas as well.
Again, reality I suppose is a bit more complicated than that.

My favorite chapter was the one on plane crashes. Its scary to know that one plane had gone down because of fuel shortage and the first officer could not communicate this to the ATC crew.

]]> By: BNB http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60518 BNB Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:43:23 +0000 http://expertdabbler.com/2009/01/26/outliers/#comment-60518 "It is highly doubtful if all these theories/stories will bear the rigor of academic scrutiny. " Academic scrutiny by the likes of Mangalam Srinivasan and Krishna Palepu ? ;-) Seriously though, we give too much importance to so called scientific methods/academic rigour. The kind of topics that Gladwell deals with do not lend themselves to a controlled physics experiment type analysis. Most of the time, he seems to be dealing with human behaviour, which clearly is not the subject of Physics. Neverthless it's not all hot air - for instance the 10,000 hours rule is well known in cognitive studies. Anecdotal evidence, folk lore, etc are valuable parts of our culture that need to be taken with a pinch of salt. As for academic rigour, getting published in journals doesn't prove anything necessarily - the referee for your paper might want to attend some conference in your country and might become a little lenient. There is a tremendous backscratching culture in the scientific research community as well. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that even in leading journals, 80% of the stuff doesn't advance our understanding much. It's done due to the 'publish or perish' culture prevalent in the research community. I have completed about 30% of the book, not sure why are saying it's science fiction. “It is highly doubtful if all these theories/stories will bear the rigor of academic scrutiny. ”

Academic scrutiny by the likes of Mangalam Srinivasan and Krishna Palepu ? ;-)

Seriously though, we give too much importance to so called scientific methods/academic rigour. The kind of topics that Gladwell deals with do not lend themselves to a controlled physics experiment type analysis. Most of the time, he seems to be dealing with human behaviour, which clearly is not the subject of Physics. Neverthless it’s not all hot air - for instance the 10,000 hours rule is well known in cognitive studies. Anecdotal evidence, folk lore, etc are valuable parts of our culture that need to be taken with a pinch of salt. As for academic rigour, getting published in journals doesn’t prove anything necessarily - the referee for your paper might want to attend some conference in your country and might become a little lenient. There is a tremendous backscratching culture in the scientific research community as well. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that even in leading journals, 80% of the stuff doesn’t advance our understanding much. It’s done due to the ‘publish or perish’ culture prevalent in the research community.

I have completed about 30% of the book, not sure why are saying it’s science fiction.

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