Comments by "Ellie" (@ellie698) on "How To Academy"
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The book is great, however I think Gladwell, in talking of the dangers of certain assumptions, like suicide risk and causes of rape, and not seeing them in the terms he's arguing against is falling into exactly the same trap he's trying to avoid.
He's arguing that the previous assumptions are too simplistic and therefore wrong whilst putting forward alternative assumptions that are also to simplistic and therefore wrong.
The issues of self harm suicidal ideation and the reasons behind the crime of rape are far more complex than he's arguing here.
He's putting forward an alternative way of seeing these things yes.
But his alternatives are no less flawed than the assumptions he's addressing.
People who have long standing severe thoughts of suicide will absolutely seek alternative methods, the fact that one method has been closed off may dissuade some, of course it will, but it will by no means dissuade all.
And, whilst alcohol use of obviously a factor in some rapes, either making a perpetrator more likely to commit the crime, just as they're more likely to become violent and get into a fight in a pub, or more likely to commit an act of vandalism, or more likely to commit car crime/dangerous driving etc, there are far more factors to all crime including rape, than alcohol use.
In reading the book society runs the risk of ignoring one set of assumptions in favour of another, equally incomplete set of assumptions.
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