Malcolm Gladwell, racism, and the attack of the comments

Malcolm Gladwell is interesting. Uncompromisingly so. His recent book, What the Dog Saw, drew a salty review from Steven Pinker at the New York Times earlier this month. In reviewing Gladwell's blog today, I came across his response to Pinker. He coyly accepts Pinker's title of "minor genius," but then recounts Pinker's citation of a blogger named Steve Sailer, whom he dismisses as a closet racist marauding as a statistician.

What happens next is something I have only recently learned to appreciate. The compliments pile on Gladwell, but then Sailer shows up to start battling it out with his own justifications. He posts four times in two hours! Long posts, too.

Kudos to Gladwell. I don't think he will miss the irony of a "minor genius" able to start a roiling blogosphere cage fight over football quarterback stats.