Pointing out conflicts of interest isn't ad hominem. An ad hominem is when you respond to someone's argument by attacking their character. But in this case Gladwell's authority is itself the argument. With a past like that, you have to take most of what he says with a grain of salt.
Dealing with the problem of pure staff accumulation,
all our researches ... point to an average increase of 5.75% per year.
-- C.N. Parkinson
Scare mongering, he says? (Score:3)
http://shameproject.com/report... [shameproject.com]
Re: (Score:2)
http://shameproject.com/report... [shameproject.com]
I've enjoyed Gladwell's books. It is a shame he does seem to have some significant conflicts of interest in much of what he has written.
Re: (Score:2)
That has to be the longest ad hominem I've ever read.
Re: (Score:2)
Pointing out conflicts of interest isn't ad hominem. An ad hominem is when you respond to someone's argument by attacking their character. But in this case Gladwell's authority is itself the argument. With a past like that, you have to take most of what he says with a grain of salt.