tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post7091435714985637350..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: 10-12-13 HodgepodgeGus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-28477370540580166342013-10-13T02:43:05.243-06:002013-10-13T02:43:05.243-06:00"You write: ‘One should seek out and weigh op..."<i>You write: ‘One should seek out and weigh opposing views’.<br /><br />For those fields in which you do not have any expertise, I agree.</i>"<br /><br />Not doing that in an area in which one has expertise makes sense, so long as one understands where those he disagrees with went wrong. (Or why he has a different hypothesis or hunch, in cases of limited knowledge.)<br /><br />"<i>Anyone can read a book targeted to a lay audience and make sense out of it. A book, fiction or non-fiction is always a CONVERSATION not a one way funnel for knowledge. When I read, I make counter arguments in my head, continuously trying to prove the author wrong.</i>"<br /><br />True.<br /><br />"<i>One thing that bugged me though is this statement: ‘The counter-intuitive conclusion is that making things harder improves performance.’ </i>"<br /><br />Now that you point it out, that ISN'T a counterintuitive result. Problems that demand more, cognitively, may well do that, although I would think that the reason the problem did so (e.g., the person presented with it found it important) would be highly relevant.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-82877207027702942202013-10-12T08:01:40.889-06:002013-10-12T08:01:40.889-06:00Paul Raeburn writes: ‘But I'm now afraid to re...Paul Raeburn writes: ‘But I'm now afraid to read him.’<br />Really? After deconstructing him once is he afraid he can’t do it again? It sounds like fun to me and now I may actually read the book. An anecdote is an anecdote and a single study is a single study and any reader should be able to figure out their respective value vs. each other and vs. years of study. Why take Malcolm at face value when you could be reading his book all the while thinking carefully about everything he says. <br />You write: ‘One should seek out and weigh opposing views’. <br />For those fields in which you do not have any expertise, I agree. On the other hand, my favorite expert is myself. Anyone can read a book targeted to a lay audience and make sense out of it. A book, fiction or non-fiction is always a CONVERSATION not a one way funnel for knowledge. When I read, I make counter arguments in my head, continuously trying to prove the author wrong. <br />One thing that bugged me though is this statement: ‘The counter-intuitive conclusion is that making things harder improves performance.’ <br />How is this counter intuitive? It is exactly what I would have predicted. In the case presented, the light-gray italic print made the reading a little more difficult but still well within the mitigation range of any normal person. I would expect that it pushed the readers to increase their focus making it more likely they remembered what they read. In any case it would be a mistake to generalize and take this study as proving anything more than the specific instance described.<br /> <br />Steve Dnoreply@blogger.com