Raggin on Gladwell

I found Isaac Chotiner's rough review of Gladwell's recent Outliers book [The New Republic Feb 4, 2009] to be fascinating. I really enjoyed reading The Tipping Point - mining it for good ideas rather than putting a lot of faith behind every idea.

Gladwell's book Blink seemed totally boring to me and though I picked a copy up for $2 at Half Price Books, I never got around to reading it and probably won't.

As for Outliers: The Story of Success, I think I probably won't get to it either. The case studies in it will probably be interesting but the overall lesson seems to be that practice makes you better at stuff. Apparently he comes to the conclusion that 10,000 hours is the key to genius but I think Chotiner's review is spot on in criticizing this rule.

In the meantime, one of the key points of the Tipping Point - dealing with the "Broken Window" theory - has been verified by some recent research in historic Lowell, Mass (know your labor history, people!).

Researchers, working with police, identified 34 crime hot spots. In half of them, authorities set to work - clearing trash from the sidewalks, fixing street lights, and sending loiterers scurrying. Abandoned buildings were secured, businesses forced to meet code, and more arrests made for misdemeanors. Mental health services and homeless aid referrals expanded.

In the remaining hot spots, normal policing and services continued.

Then researchers from Harvard and Suffolk University sat back and watched, meticulously recording criminal incidents in each of the hot spots.

Read the story for the results.