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| Why Smart People Defend Bad Ideas | | Date Created: Jun 13, 2005, 08:42 PM |
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Scott Berkun looks like a man to keep an eye on. I'm hoping he'll write a whole book on the subject but in the meantime we'll have to settle for his essay on Why Smart People Defend Bad Ideas.
"We all know someone that’s intelligent, but who occasionally defends obviously bad ideas. Why does this happen? How can smart people take up positions that defy any reasonable logic? Having spent many years working with smart people I’ve catalogued many of the ways this happens, and I have advice on what to do about it. I feel qualified to write this essay as I’m a recovering smart person myself and I’ve defended several very bad ideas. So if nothing else this essay serves as a kind of personal therapy session. However, I fully suspect you’ll get more than just entertainment value (“Look, Scott is more stupid than we thought!”) out of what I have to say on this topic."
Another book to check out is: Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid by Robert J. Sternberg. (I haven't read it but Berkun recommends it.) and Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things (which I have read and recommend).
Berkun misses a lot but it's just an essay. He seems to be on the right track. And anyone who uses The Argument Clinic from Monty Python's Flying Circus as a reference can't be too far off. |
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