Kevin Beck DESTROYS Gladwell: "No one would do something that dumb" is the smart crowd's favorite stupid claim

The President of the United States, one of the two most powerful men in the entire world would never endanger him self nor his presidency by having sexual relations with a 20 year old intern.

Smart, accomplished people do dumb reckless illogical things all the time.

Iron Bars wrote:

If any of you see Gault riding around in a brand new car, you know where the money came from.

Did anyone ever confirm this? It would go a long way in explaining the SH bias.

hard pass wrote:

Kevin Beck has never destroyed anyone. He’s just a bitter, unsuccessful loser that wines about more talented journalists and blames his lacy of success on culture instead of his obvious shortcomings.

+1

He's nowhere near as smart as he tries to project, either. It's not some big breakthrough to figure out Gladwell's schtick. Ultimately, Gladwell's schtick clearly has far more appeal to readers than Beck's schtick does.

NotPC wrote:

The President of the United States, one of the two most powerful men in the entire world would never endanger him self nor his presidency by having sexual relations with a 20 year old intern.

Smart, accomplished people do dumb reckless illogical things all the time.

Where is the evidence that Houlihan is smart? It might not have taken very much for her to do something "dumb, reckless and illogical".

"how does a 25 year-old athlete go from being a 4:03/15:00 runner to being a 3:57/14:34 runner in a single year?"

That seems to be well within the parameters of natural improvement. Improved training and lifestyle could easily do that.

89 steps wrote:

"how does a 25 year-old athlete go from being a 4:03/15:00 runner to being a 3:57/14:34 runner in a single year?"

That seems to be well within the parameters of natural improvement. Improved training and lifestyle could easily do that.

Cool. You'll be super-excited about Mohamed Katir's progress this year.

Nandrolonologists of the World wrote:

Here's my progression in the 1500

Age 16 5.17

Age 34 4.18

Age 40 4.06

Age 43 4.00

I'm male, but my top speed was only 7.5 m/s

If you're not trolling and think you're some kind of running and doping expert, then show me some evidence that you have a detailed knowledge of the sport and of doping?

Otherwise you're just spamming nonsense.

Mediocre amateurs can see big performance jumps because they are usually making big mistakes in the first place. Elite athletes tend to make incremental progress because they are usually doing the fundamentals well.

Intellectually dishonest to claim that Katir's progress and Houlihan's progress are analogous.

Anyway, Beck is a bitter hack and Houlihan was rightfully banned.

89 steps wrote:

"how does a 25 year-old athlete go from being a 4:03/15:00 runner to being a 3:57/14:34 runner in a single year?"

That seems to be well within the parameters of natural improvement. Improved training and lifestyle could easily do that.

Just noting that not much markedly changed for Shelby in this time period, she just got way faster. She had been with Bowerman/Jerry since 2015, and healthy from then through the winter of 2018. Her results went crazy in the spring and summer of 2018 where she morphed from someone who could sneak into the final of a global 5,000 to medal-contender in the 1500.

I think you'd have to chalk up to lifestyle, nutrition and the accumulation of training if you are a Shelby believer. The nutrition thing takes a bit of a hit if she's regularly pounding cheesecake and beef burritos as a daily diet. Accumulation of training is a tad dubious because where was that in 2017 where she seemed to have plateaued. Lifestyle...I mean she's been in a stable, top training group since 2015, reaping that 3 years later is a bit odd.

hard pass wrote:

Kevin Beck has never destroyed anyone. He’s just a bitter, unsuccessful loser that wines about more talented journalists and blames his lacy of success on culture instead of his obvious shortcomings.

bing-f'n-O

i've always found the excess of bitterness and bile in his writing detracts from the points he tries to make

Creepy old man wrote:

I love the way Beck writes. This paragraph is wonderful:

"Whereas all corners of journalism once rejected the ignorant, the half-literate, the lazy, and the spineless, today’s hand-job-happy environment is tailor-made for a freewheeling moron like Chris Chavez, who can compensate for a lack of basic knowledge, thinking power, integrity, running ability, and literacy with sheer ass-kissing, not just to the scumlords like Phil Knight he pleasures via his interviews but the blinkered masses who make up most of his thousands-strong fan base."

Beck trolls these boards.

I've seen the same content here and in his verbose blogs.

If this post wasn't from him, others in this thread likely are.

As to "wonderful", raise your standards. It's a Hardyesque sentence shotgun-blasted with commas. While it serves up heaping helpings of insult and opinion, it's devoid of fact or logic.

Yowch. Same old same old, harking back to his days on DRS.

hard pass wrote:

Kevin Beck has never destroyed anyone. He’s just a bitter, unsuccessful loser that wines about more talented journalists and blames his lacy of success on culture instead of his obvious shortcomings.

Hi Kevin! hahahaha...nice try though.

Creepy old man wrote:

I love the way Beck writes. This paragraph is wonderful:

"Whereas all corners of journalism once rejected the ignorant, the half-literate, the lazy, and the spineless, today’s hand-job-happy environment is tailor-made for a freewheeling moron like Chris Chavez, who can compensate for a lack of basic knowledge, thinking power, integrity, running ability, and literacy with sheer ass-kissing, not just to the scumlords like Phil Knight he pleasures via his interviews but the blinkered masses who make up most of his thousands-strong fan base."

+1

High hopes wrote:

Nandrolonologists of the World wrote:

Here's my progression in the 1500

Age 16 5.17

Age 34 4.18

Age 40 4.06

Age 43 4.00

I'm male, but my top speed was only 7.5 m/s

If you're not trolling and think you're some kind of running and doping expert, then show me some evidence that you have a detailed knowledge of the sport and of doping?

Otherwise you're just spamming nonsense.

Mediocre amateurs can see big performance jumps because they are usually making big mistakes in the first place. Elite athletes tend to make incremental progress because they are usually doing the fundamentals well.

Shelby's times are not superhuman. This is the point you doping enthusiasts don't get.

The American records should be faster.

Nandrolonologists of the World wrote:

High hopes wrote:

Mediocre amateurs can see big performance jumps because they are usually making big mistakes in the first place. Elite athletes tend to make incremental progress because they are usually doing the fundamentals well.

Shelby's times are not superhuman. This is the point you doping enthusiasts don't get.

The American records should be faster.

You're right, Americans and Europeans just don't try hard enough

runner69 wrote:

Nandrolonologists of the World wrote:

Here's my progression in the 1500

Age 16 5.17

Age 34 4.18

Age 40 4.06

Age 43 4.00

I'm male, but my top speed was only 7.5 m/s

If you're not trolling and think you're some kind of running and doping expert, then show me some evidence that you have a detailed knowledge of the sport and of doping?

Otherwise you're just spamming nonsense.

Has Armstronglivs called you out for doping yet?

I can’t remember. If he hasn't should I be disappointed?

Armstronglivs wrote:

casual obsever wrote:

Indeed. I'd also add that not all athletes are smart people.

This site is proof of that.

I'mma argue that athletes are more often than not, kinda dumb people. Sure, some have fancy degrees, and some are truly brilliant people, but the majority are not, regardless of their degree or later profession. Something about spending your late 20s and early 30s still living like a college kid stunts you emotionally, culturally, intellectually, and socially. Look at Houlihan's "authentic" food truck defense, or the fact that she was like "the people in front of me ordered something that wasn't basic like beef or chicken." It just smells of naïveté, like, was she thinking "most of the country will agree with me that Mexicans are dirty and eating something other than pork or beef is weird."?

FartKing69 wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

This site is proof of that.

I'mma argue that athletes are more often than not, kinda dumb people. Sure, some have fancy degrees, and some are truly brilliant people, but the majority are not, regardless of their degree or later profession. Something about spending your late 20s and early 30s still living like a college kid stunts you emotionally, culturally, intellectually, and socially. Look at Houlihan's "authentic" food truck defense, or the fact that she was like "the people in front of me ordered something that wasn't basic like beef or chicken." It just smells of naïveté, like, was she thinking "most of the country will agree with me that Mexicans are dirty and eating something other than pork or beef is weird."?

When I say "athletes" I'm largely talking about elite runners. I think other sports have a lot less of a "college team" feel to them in the big leagues, and they make a lot more money. I'm not saying money buys class and culture, but I doubt there's many houses where 5 national class NBA players hole up for a summer and drink PBRs and play XBox in between their training.