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So last year I picked up the book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
by Malcolm Gladwell. Three chapters in, and I literally got up from the chair I was sitting in and threw the book in the garbage. He spent the first three chapters of the book I would never finish talking about how once you have reached a certain amount of income, then unhappiness and discontent follows. I can't remember his specific junk science, but the amount for maximum happiness was somewhere south of $100k (I want to say $80k).
Now comes this. A statistic I have quoted many times about "10,000 hours of practice" from Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success and it turns out Gladwell got that wrong also.
http://www.inc.com/nick-skillicorn/...iginal-stu.html?cid=sf01002&sr_share=facebook
From the article:
"...the authors behind the original study on which Gladwell based his figures now claim that his interpretation wasn't actually very accurate."
"Fundamentally, 10,000 hours of practice will actually only keep you level on average with everyone else working toward your same goal. At most stages in your life, if you're committed to practice and improvement, that figure means you'll be ahead of about half of your competition, but still be behind the other half."
There's merit to understanding the original study, and like in all things... trust but verify. It comes as no great surprise to me after reading his fundamental errors chronicled in David and Goliath that a portion of his lifework manifesto was based on faulty understanding and interpretation on his part.
But hey... it sells books.
I haven't read it yet but here is a new book by the original creators of the study by which Gladwell created his errant summation:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544456238/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
by Malcolm Gladwell. Three chapters in, and I literally got up from the chair I was sitting in and threw the book in the garbage. He spent the first three chapters of the book I would never finish talking about how once you have reached a certain amount of income, then unhappiness and discontent follows. I can't remember his specific junk science, but the amount for maximum happiness was somewhere south of $100k (I want to say $80k).
Now comes this. A statistic I have quoted many times about "10,000 hours of practice" from Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success and it turns out Gladwell got that wrong also.
http://www.inc.com/nick-skillicorn/...iginal-stu.html?cid=sf01002&sr_share=facebook
From the article:
"...the authors behind the original study on which Gladwell based his figures now claim that his interpretation wasn't actually very accurate."
"Fundamentally, 10,000 hours of practice will actually only keep you level on average with everyone else working toward your same goal. At most stages in your life, if you're committed to practice and improvement, that figure means you'll be ahead of about half of your competition, but still be behind the other half."
There's merit to understanding the original study, and like in all things... trust but verify. It comes as no great surprise to me after reading his fundamental errors chronicled in David and Goliath that a portion of his lifework manifesto was based on faulty understanding and interpretation on his part.
But hey... it sells books.
I haven't read it yet but here is a new book by the original creators of the study by which Gladwell created his errant summation:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544456238/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
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