Malcolm Gladwell

I was like, okay, we're arresting hundreds of thousands of young black men in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but... Better that than being killed. That's what we were all thinking. And then, you know, I subsequently learned this. It's actually an incredibly interesting history. You know, what happens is a judge Stop Stop and Frisk in New York.

I was like, okay, we're arresting hundreds of thousands of young black men in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but... Better that than being killed. That's what we were all thinking. And then, you know, I subsequently learned this. It's actually an incredibly interesting history. You know, what happens is a judge Stop Stop and Frisk in New York.

We go from stopping 700,000 people in one year to stopping 20,000. And everyone says, including the judge who stopped it, crime's going to go back up. And what happens? Crime falls another 50%. And everyone's like, oh, my God. Not only was Stop and Frisk irrelevant to the crime drop, maybe it was preventing us from using police resources in a way that actually... helped solve.

We go from stopping 700,000 people in one year to stopping 20,000. And everyone says, including the judge who stopped it, crime's going to go back up. And what happens? Crime falls another 50%. And everyone's like, oh, my God. Not only was Stop and Frisk irrelevant to the crime drop, maybe it was preventing us from using police resources in a way that actually... helped solve.

So we learned this happened in 2012. And my point is, if you lived through that learning moment in 2012, when we took away stop and frisk and crime fell another 50%, if you lived through those next five years and you didn't change your mind, then you are morally bankrupt, right? You have to have changed your mind at that point. So you have to acknowledge it's not wrong to be wrong in 1996.

So we learned this happened in 2012. And my point is, if you lived through that learning moment in 2012, when we took away stop and frisk and crime fell another 50%, if you lived through those next five years and you didn't change your mind, then you are morally bankrupt, right? You have to have changed your mind at that point. So you have to acknowledge it's not wrong to be wrong in 1996.

It's wrong to not change your mind after 2012. We learn something crucial in those post-stop and frisk years. It's like you have to respond. The price of playing the game of ideas in the world is you have to stay on your toes and respond to new evidence as it arises. You want to play this game, that's the rule.

It's wrong to not change your mind after 2012. We learn something crucial in those post-stop and frisk years. It's like you have to respond. The price of playing the game of ideas in the world is you have to stay on your toes and respond to new evidence as it arises. You want to play this game, that's the rule.

So, I mean, yeah, I find it's weird. And also it was so long ago, like this is the, this was the late nineties. I'm older than you guys, but it's like, have you looked at your high school yearbook or like, it's just everything about it is cringeworthy. I mean, it should be fine to look back on your 25 years in the past self and have an issue. I would, I would hope he would have an issue.

So, I mean, yeah, I find it's weird. And also it was so long ago, like this is the, this was the late nineties. I'm older than you guys, but it's like, have you looked at your high school yearbook or like, it's just everything about it is cringeworthy. I mean, it should be fine to look back on your 25 years in the past self and have an issue. I would, I would hope he would have an issue.

because because you're making them do work yeah so you gotta revise you have to revise your opinion of them and that seems like oh that that seems like an imposition i think that's what um as opposed to kind of um you know it's the same way when a musician makes a kind of change in their style yeah there's always a set of fans who are appalled by this like

because because you're making them do work yeah so you gotta revise you have to revise your opinion of them and that seems like oh that that seems like an imposition i think that's what um as opposed to kind of um you know it's the same way when a musician makes a kind of change in their style yeah there's always a set of fans who are appalled by this like

Like they don't – like they want the musician to be kind of frozen in amber. Yeah. To be the same person they encountered for the first time at 16. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How dare you use an electric guitar or whatever the argument is. It is a funny – I don't – I mean I think you – the question is who is your obligation to as a writer? Is it to your audience or is it to yourself?

Like they don't – like they want the musician to be kind of frozen in amber. Yeah. To be the same person they encountered for the first time at 16. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How dare you use an electric guitar or whatever the argument is. It is a funny – I don't – I mean I think you – the question is who is your obligation to as a writer? Is it to your audience or is it to yourself?

I think it has to be first and foremost it has to be to yourself. We're going to continue this conversation right after this short break.

I think it has to be first and foremost it has to be to yourself. We're going to continue this conversation right after this short break.

It's not that you shouldn't trust what I said in the other book. Right. It's that I've moved on. It's just not where I am at this moment.

It's not that you shouldn't trust what I said in the other book. Right. It's that I've moved on. It's just not where I am at this moment.

I haven't repudiated them. They're not who I am now, right? You know, in the same way, it wasn't... To go back to my dad, for example, when my dad changed his mind, sometimes it would be he would go from, you know, A to Z. But sometimes it was just... He just... There was an earlier version of himself that believed this... And then that self was gone.

I haven't repudiated them. They're not who I am now, right? You know, in the same way, it wasn't... To go back to my dad, for example, when my dad changed his mind, sometimes it would be he would go from, you know, A to Z. But sometimes it was just... He just... There was an earlier version of himself that believed this... And then that self was gone.