Dear Malcolm: Why so threatened? | Hacker News Reader

Dear Malcolm: Why so threatened?

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12 pointsbootload10 comments

I think Gladwell is concerned that another writer is intruding on his niche of content-free pablum predicated upon the mistaken assumption that the plural of anecdote is data. The only thing more amusing than watching two writers who seem to operate within their own reality-distortion fields argue past each other is seeing members of the blogosphere who share a similar unfamiliarity with the concept of debate grounded in facts and data weigh in on either side.

I suspect that the airport book market is quite large and thoroughly dominated by "content-free pablum."

"...that the plural of anecdote is data..."

Thank you for this most excellent quote. I got a good laugh out of that quip.

Interesting back-story on that line:

http://bearcastle.com/blog/?m=20050808

Thank you for saying what the inner cynic in me also thought.

It is ironic that this "cynical" attitude is actually non cynical: a belief in objective data, and an attempt to find meaning based on facts and logic. Yet by many this sort of thing would be viewed as "cynical".

I agree that cynics sometimes bring us to earth. But you have to question their motives too. Here's a good post on that: http://lesswrong.com/lw/ym/cynical_about_cynicism/

I'm especially on guard against cynicism because it seems to be a standard corruption of rationality in particular. If many people are optimists, then true rationalists will occasionally have to say things that sound pessimistic by contrast.

EDIT: I don't mean to imply anyone here is a cynic or that I know their motives whether they are or not. But I wanted to make the general point.

Talk to me after Ken has made enough to quit his day job.

What does that have to do with anything? since when was commercial success a measure of quality? (specially in writing?)

But the discussion isn't whether you can create quality writing while giving it away for free (obviously that's going on, long before the Internet - eg the Bible..) but whether "free" is a sustainable business model.

Anderson's own example is a guy who actually makes a living working as a civil engineer, ie selling his time for money. What he does in his spare time, for free, is known outside the Wired hype bubble as "a hobby".

Dear Chris: Why so inane?

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