A great debate between Pinker/Ridley (pro) and Gladwell/de Botton (con).
I thought the Pros won convincingly. The audience thought they won, though not so convincingly: only 2% changed their minds from con to pro.
I had the impression that Gladwell and perhaps even de Botton would rather have been arguing FOR the proposition.
Gladwell was given to rather unseemly ad hominem, I thought, especially in his opening statement.
Anyway, good fun if you have an hour or so.
(I'd never heard of these Munk debates before. Seem to be a Canadian thing. Found out about them from Sam Harris's Twitter).
I thought the Pros won convincingly. The audience thought they won, though not so convincingly: only 2% changed their minds from con to pro.
I had the impression that Gladwell and perhaps even de Botton would rather have been arguing FOR the proposition.
Gladwell was given to rather unseemly ad hominem, I thought, especially in his opening statement.
Anyway, good fun if you have an hour or so.
(I'd never heard of these Munk debates before. Seem to be a Canadian thing. Found out about them from Sam Harris's Twitter).
