Om Malcom Gladwells böcker

Nog är Malcom Gladwell flygplatsbokförfattaren nummer ett? En recension i Wall Street Journal sågar hans senaste bok (David & Goliath) – liksom hans övriga produktion.

He excels at telling just-so stories and cherry-picking science to back them. In "The Tipping Point" (2000), he enthused about a study that showed facial expressions to be such powerful subliminal persuaders that ABC News anchor Peter Jennings made people vote for Ronald Reagan in 1984 just by smiling more when he reported on him than when he reported on his opponent, Walter Mondale. In "Blink" (2005), Mr. Gladwell wrote that a psychologist with a "love lab" could watch married couples interact for just 15 minutes and predict with shocking accuracy whether they would divorce within 15 years. In neither case was there rigorous evidence for such claims.

Comments

[Stefan]

Steven Pinker har tidigare kritiserat Gladwell för att återraportera forskningresultat som han inte riktigt kan värdera själv. Pinker kallar detta fenomen för The Igon Value Problem efter att Gladwell har citerat en expert som talat om ett "igon value" (eigenvalue).

Orättvist? Kanske. Roligt? Ja.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

[Bergh]

NÄHÄ? Obetalbart komiskt!

Jag känner klar risk att Malcolm Gladwell bashing kommer att bli ett nytt guilty pleasure...