Gladwell -- Outliers

Michiko Kakutani wrote a negative review of Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers. Kakutani feels that it is little more then a collection of common sense aphorisms. "Much of what Mr. Gladwell has to say about superstars is little more than common sense: that talent alone is not enough to ensure success, that opportunity, hard work, timing and luck play important roles as well."

She criticizes him for what I think is his greatest gift. That is, writing clearly about the solving of complex problems. Writing clearly does not mean that the ideas are in themselves simple, or "common sense." In fact, many of the conclusions Gladwell comes to are counter-intuitive, and require that you get beyond your first impulse.

Near the end of the book Gladwell writes about the findings of Johns Hopkins sociologist Karl Alexander. Here is a link to Alexander's article Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap. What Alexander finds in his study is that the main problem with the education of low-income students is what happens in the time that they are not in school, most specifically summer vacation. It is not necessarily news that children in these circumstances encounter problems in their home life. What is telling, however, is that Alexander (and by proxy Gladwell) finds that summer vacation is when the gap between low and high to middle-class students solidifies. Low-income students progress even further in a school year then their higher income counterparts.

We can reform education (and to some extent, need to) by changing the curriculum, spending more money on schools, and by hiring better teachers, but none of this will address the main cause of the problem. I use this as an example because it involves facts that we all, for the most part, already know. The conclusion of the report is not complex, yet it is not the conclusion I would have reached using my common sense.

I really hope this show comes back

Ain't no party like my nana's tea party

Educational Debate for the Obama Administration

A friend of mine created the following blog designed create a debate about where educational policy will go for the next administration. I helped him put together it together and will play a role in responding to comments. It is called The National Debate about American Public Education for the 21st Century.

Knowing that the Obama campaign utilized many Web 2.0 applications helped us shape this project. We hope to use those tactics here. I embedded a video below that gives an idea of what Web 2.0 applications are. And if you don't like the video, it at least has a seductive sound. (Also, feel free to ask me any questions you have about the topic).

We were not satisfied with how education was dealt with in the presidential election, and would like to find a way to give more people a voice in determining the direction of educational policy in this country. The only candidate who was really engaged in discussing the educational system was Huckabee. He actually had some good ideas, but he did not last long enough to bring his ideas wider attention. I understand that it is not the pressing issue that people made their decision on, but it is really too important to let slide.

The educational debate blog has a lot of different levels and offers different ways to participate. We do not expect everyone to fully participate, but would love to get as much feedback and discussion as possible. We list a group of big questions on the front page and thought about confining the debate to these big questions. We extended it because we wanted to focus people on the fact that it is the specifics that need to change, as well as the direction and philosophy. Making the necessary changes will requires a more refined approach, actually confronting the specific circumstances that prevent the reform that is necessary (or possibly not).

We will take the feedback from this blog and collate and submit a report to the new education secretary when President Obama takes office. Please feel free to forward to whoever you think might be interested.

I remember that this aired soon

after 9/11. It was scheduled as a tribute to John Lennon at Carnegie Hall, and I pleasantly surprised to stumble upon it on TNT. It ended up serving a duel purpose, as a tribute to both John and New York City.

What makes it good . . .

one thing is that it defies genre.




There is something in Edie that reminds of a younger Loretta Lynn, but that's hard to say because the Loretta below is still bringing it pretty good.

Recommended by a friend . . .

This is better then the songs that made her name -- she finally listened to Letterman and got rid of those pesky Bohemians.

David Brooks

I recently listened to a debate between these two about the nature of conservatism. Brooks had reviewed Sullivan's book, The Conservative Soul and they had an interesting conversation about where conservatism is right now.

I also listened to two podcasts this weekend of Brooks speaking to two different groups, the World Affairs Council of Northern California and at the 2008 Aspen Ideas conference.

Brooks as a political pundit can sometimes make me crazy. I think he forces himself to be the "house" republican when he is commentating at PBS. It is an unnatural role for him and it shows. I don't think that he is really that interested in the horse race aspects of politics, yet that is really what political commentary is all about.

I really enjoy him in other venues (these podcasts). He excels at speaking in a longer forms. He has the time to articulate ideas, and he has a lot of them. He mentions his political affiliation on these podcasts, but if he did not, it would be difficult to guess what it was.

In a way I envy Brooks, Sullivan and other disillusioned conservatives. I believe they will try and reinvigorate their brand of conservatism. To do so will require conversations and debate about new ideas -- or at least a resolve to get back to old ones. It is refreshing to listen to them, and will be interesting to see how they react to the new president.

One more for tonight . . .

I don't know how I never heard this song before this movie.

Best part around 2:40

Between Scrubs and Garden State, I have rediscovered so much music.

Live Mocha

My wife and I have talked about buying Rosetta Stone software to learn French. Even on Ebay, the program is rather expensive, so I looked for something on the internet that would work -- at least to get us started.

I discovered Live Mocha, a free social networking site that has worked perfectly so far. It really uses the best parts of social networking. You practice and even record yourself speaking the language that you want to learn, while offering commentary to other people who are learning your native language. I've gotten two comments correcting my french pronunciation from native speakers.

I'm still on Course One -- which as advertised as taking 50 hours. I will update if it continues to be successful or not.

for a little pick me up -- we go . . .

waltzing matilda

My friend has it right

http://www.seekingrelevance.typepad.com/

At the very least, the discussion needs to be held. I agree with a lot of the ideas above, especially for their aims. I have a couple of ideas that I will throw out in the coming days as well.

The temptation is to engage in a dissection of each idea, assessing their feasibility. I caution against that. As a country we are a extremely large focus group, and one that is directly impacted by the conclusions we make.

When I have led focus groups in the past, I have instructed the people in them to tell me what they want a piece of software or technological product to do. Do not worry about whether it is possible, assessment is another step in the process. It is usually the experts who end up telling others what is possible and impossible -- and they almost always err on the side of caution. I have never had a programmer look at a proposal that came out of a focus group and as a first instinct tell me that the task is doable. They do, however, in the end almost always get the task done.

Idealistic, unrealistic and naive ideas should be the goal. For they are our best and only antidote to the cynicism with which we are currently ruled.

Sullivan and Palin

Andrew Sullivan really had the right take on the Palin thing. It was an absurd choice, not worthy of being taken seriously. And this is where some journalists got it wrong, they insisted on looking it as a real choice. You could sense that most of them didn't believe it, but are so afraid of being outed as liberals, that they couldn't bring themselves to confront what was plainly evident. And even when they criticized her, they had to offer platitudes about how charming and charismatic she was.

What struck me initially was the arrogance with which she displayed her ignorance. Not a definition of charm in my dictionary. (If I don't see air quote ever again, it will be too soon) While Bush has displayed enough of this in the last eight years, he at least seems to know to keep his arrogance somewhat hidden. He only seems proud of his ignorance, rather then arrogant (that's as charitable as I can be). While he vastly overestimates himself, I think he has been around so many smart people, he may recognize that he is not quite there.

The rise of Bush seemed to come from the misguided notion that he would be fun to have a beer with. Sadly, I think the choice of Palin had more to do with feelings on parts of Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry that I would rather not discuss.

Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is coming out with a new book, Outliers: the story of success.

I recently heard a talk of his about America's obsession with precociousness, not knowing that it was connected to a book. Now it makes sense that he would spend an hour and half talking about the subject. The talk -- as all of his are -- is enlightening. It breaks down myths that many of us have believed about prodigies like Mozart. If we think that he was writing beautiful music at five years old, we think that there is a way to teach others to do the same. Realizing that the original premise may be flawed, hopefully can alleviate some of the pressure that is applied on early success.

Jeopardy anyone?

Who did not know that Africa was a continent?

Answer revealed in these links:

Sullivan I

Sullivan II

Now I do take these with a grain of salt, McCain staffers are going to see just how far they can stick the blade into her back. I am sure there will be exaggerated stories, but it is kinda fun to see some of this reported on FOX. Though they will probably get some of the best of this kind of thing because their sources with the McCain campaign are quite good.