The (Pseudo)Science of Success
Details
Now that we're into fall, we've moved our discussions indoors to Café Walnut, not too far from our summer meeting spot in Washington Square Park. The cafe is near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 1 block west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
THE (PSEUDO)SCIENCE OF SUCCESS: EVALUATING SOME OF MALCOLM GLADWELL'S CLAIMS FROM OUTLIERS AND DAVID & GOLIATH
This meetup will address some claims that Malcolm Gladwell made in his books Outliers: The Story of Success (2008) and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013). Both books address concepts gleaned from research on the social, demographic & psychological factors that largely determine a person's success or failure. While Gladwell is certainly an entertaining storyteller and has helped popularize a lot of neglected ideas from the social sciences, he's come under intense criticism for his tendency to misconstrue the research he cites and to bend the facts to suit his narrative. In particular, we'll look at some of the things Gladwell got right & wrong about the scientific evidence on "deliberate practice" (a.k.a. the "10,000 Hour Rule"), cumulative advantage (the "Matthew Effect") & how this ties into "redshirting" & the "relative age effect", mismatch theory (a.k.a. the "Big Fish Little Pond Effect"), and that success stories of neuroatypical individuals which purportedly reveal the "advantages of disadvantages" and "desirable difficulties".
The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of Malcolm Gladwell's claims from his books and the scientific evidence that either agrees or conflicts with it. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to watch all the videos & read all the articles prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the videos linked under each topic, which come to about 34 minutes total. The articles listed under each heading are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.
In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the 4 topics in the order presented here and we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.
- NOTE: This meetup will cover some similar ground as our discussion back in June entitled, "A Skeptical Look at Education", where we addressed IQ, "grit", unschooling & home schooling vs public schooling, learning loss & learning transfer, several promising educational interventions, and the debate over how much of a college degree's value is based on "social signaling" rather than knowledge acquisition.
https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/238151623/
THE "10,000 HOUR RULE", ROTE LEARNING VS. DELIBERATE PRACTICE, AND THE NATURE VS. NURTURE DEBATE FOR ELITE STATUS:
1a) Gabriel Mizraki & Mark Sovel, "Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 Hour Rule Invalid?" (video - 3:40 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-xZiGrP78g
1b) ASAPScience, "Talent vs. Training" (video - 2:18 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZiRZrYo5tA
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Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool, "Malcolm Gladwell got us wrong: Our research was key to the 10,000-hour rule, but here’s what got oversimplified" (medium-length article)
https://www.salon.com/2016/04/10/malcolm_gladwell_got_us_wrong_our_research_was_key_to_the_10000_hour_rule_but_heres_what_got_oversimplified/ -
Chris Matyszczyk, "Think Practice Makes Perfect? Oh, No It Doesn't, Science Says" (short article)
https://www.inc.com/chris-matyszczyk/think-practice-makes-perfect-oh-no-it-doesnt-science-says.html
- Piers Steel, "Hard Work Beats Talent (but Only If Talent Doesn’t Work Hard)" (short article)
THE "MATTHEW EFFECT" & THE "RELATIVE AGE EFFECT" - REDSHIRTING & THE CONNECTION BETWEEN STARTING AGE & CUMULATIVE ADVANTAGE IN EDUCATION & SPORTS:
2a) Malcolm Gladwell, "Malcolm Gladwell Explains Why Human Potential Is Being Squandered" (video - 11:30 min, start at 1:50 & watch til 4:55)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kspphGOjApk&t=110s
2b) NCES, "Kindergarten Entry Status: Academic Redshirting" (video - 2:52 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1R5lc9dzH8
- David Castillo, "Out-Liar: What Malcolm Gladwell Gets Wrong About the Relative Age Effect in Pro Hockey" (medium-length article)
- Alia Wong, "Beyond the Pros and Cons of Redshirting. When it comes to delaying kindergarten entrance, there’s lots more at stake than a single child’s competitive edge." (medium-length article)
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/beyond-the-pros-and-cons-of-redshirting/401159/
THE "BIG FISH LITTLE POND EFFECT" - RELATIVE DEPRIVATION, ACADEMIC SELF-CONCEPT, COLLEGE R.O.I., AND HOW THE RELATED "MISMATCH THEORY" IMPACTS THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DEBATE:
3a) ASAPScience, "Does Your School Matter?" (video - 3:26 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1-uj0ToVY
3b) Richard Sander, "Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help" (video - 10:05 min, start at 2:50)
https://youtu.be/ZEerOOD_q8U?t=170
- Jordan Wiseman, "Does It Matter Where You Go to College?" (medium-length article)
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/does-it-matter-where-you-go-to-college/257227/
- Conor Friedersdorf, "Does Affirmative Action Create Mismatches Between Students and Universities? The debate over ‘mismatch theory’ is needlessly polarized—and further research will help students, whatever the answers it generates." (medium-length article)
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/the-needlessly-polarized-mismatch-theory-debate/420321/
DYSLEXIA AS NEURODIVERSITY AND A "DESIRABLE DIFFICULTY":
4a) Julia Wilde, "What Causes Dyslexia?" (video - 4:53 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROPW0R54dgE
4b) Malcolm Gladwell, "Disadvantages Can Improve Your Chances of Success" (video - 6:51 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXTZ6SOVmdo
- Peter Sergo, "Malcolm Gladwell's 'David And Goliath': Experts Criticize Scientific Basis Of His Dyslexia Argument" (short article)
- Jerry Coyne, "What Do We Do About 'Neurodiversity'?" (short blog post)
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/what-do-we-do-about-neurodiversity/
- Annie Murphy Paul, "What's the Sweet Spot of Difficulty for Learning?" (medium-length article)
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/21/whats-the-sweet-spot-of-difficulty-for-learning/
The (Pseudo)Science of Success