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Malcolm Gladwell

Intelligent bump ahead: Crazy pedestrians:: Pedestrian heaven and intelligent-city hell

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Malcolm Gladwell took a ride in a Waymo — controlled by a perfect, calm algorithmic driver. As Gladwell put it, Waymo’s driving was executed “with the unruffled rationality of an engineering major at Stanford university.”

It was a kind of sneak preview of the ideal, intelligent city. Ah, but this goes further.

The roots of those further-reaching implications begin with Gladwell’s interviews with bicyclists, to whom cars are the greatest risk. They say that some drivers drive rationally and give wide berths. But others seem to resent the cyclists’ presence and seem to use their cars for personal expression. Forget art, journals, or lawn signs.… Read the rest “Intelligent bump ahead: Crazy pedestrians:: Pedestrian heaven and intelligent-city hell”

Malcolm Gladwell: why oral data’s different

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Why would you present data orally instead of in print? You might think that if all you have is data, why bother with the sweaty palms? Just post the paper online and let people read it!

Not if you want to test your conclusions. Oral and written renditions have different effects, and elicit different responses.

Malcolm Gladwell told how he realized this on an always interesting podcast, the Ezra Klein Show.

Here’s Gladwell’s explanation almost verbatim, starting at 57:25.

My father taught math and would be constantly going off to conferences. I was always very skeptical.

I thought, What possible value is there for him to go and present a paper when they could just send someone the paper?

… Read the rest “Malcolm Gladwell: why oral data’s different”