The Blind Side and the Bell Curve

by fasterhornkillkill on May 13, 2008 7:25 AM CDT Comment 9 comments

Michael Lewis' incredible college football book The Blind Side tells the amazing true story of professional footballs talent search for someone capable of blocking Lawrence Taylor. This search leads to inner city Memphis, where an incredibly athletically gifted young man who has been in and out of foster care and from the most difficult possible of circumstances improbably gets the opportunity to attend a private school and is adopted by a wealthy family. If Michael can get eligible to play college football, he will probably earn millions protecting the quarterback's blind side in the NFL.

The Blind Side is put into the context of the debate over IQ and education reform here:

http://jaypgreene.com/2008/05/10/charles-murray-vs-michael-oher/

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Solid book

I taught in a Memphis City School from 06-07, and had the opportunity to read that book while doing so. Being familiar with Briarcrest Prep and what it stands for in Memphis, this truly is an amazing story, and I hope Oher’s talent can translate well from college to the NFL.

Horizontalism is its own reward.

by bendj on May 13, 2008 9:55 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Blind Side

I’m not really sure whether you’re trying to sell the book, or the Jay Greene blog, or the Charles Murray guy.

Regardless, I recently finished The Blind Side, and thought it was a compelling read. I thought Lewis’s earlier book, Moneyball, was more innovative and thought-provoking. However, The Blind Side is a much better character study and emotional “fairy-tale.” The parts in the book regarding Bill Walsh and the development of the left tackle are mildly interesting, but it’s the story of Michael Oher that really makes you want to keep reading. Although I think Lewis keeps the book mainly one-sided and glosses over some of the less optimistic parts of Oher’s high school/college development, he does a great job portraying a teenager and person you really want to root for. Strongly recommended.

by jc25 on May 13, 2008 9:57 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Look at his history

posted the same thing in four different blogs so far.

by Wells on May 13, 2008 10:16 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

according to an interview on EDSBS

Lewis is mostly interested in writing about economies of scale, and the people who break the mold in those economies, i.e. people who exceed expectations given their circumstances.

His first book, “Liars Poker”, is outstanding, and an eye-opening look into what caused the economic bust in the 1980s.

I believe Lewis even admitted that The Blind Side was written with some inherent personal bias, since Sean Tuohy is a childhood friend of his.

by Beergut on May 14, 2008 5:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Liar's Poker

is a very entertaining book.

Go register. Or else.

by Skin Patrol on May 14, 2008 6:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember

hearing about this story on NPR several years ago. Neat story.

That said, the original poster does have an agenda, as Wells noted.

by Brandon 97 on May 13, 2008 2:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I can’t decide what to do with it.

On the one hand, it’s not pimping anything commercial, and the topic is one I like.

On the other, it’s a lousy FanPost in that it only serves to direct the reader elsewhere.

Shrug.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on May 13, 2008 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know what possible impact

the anecdote of Michael Oher would or should have on anyone’s personal opinion of the Bell Curve, which was a collection of data. If a single example could debunk or prove theories based on data, then data collection would be useless.

Go register. Or else.

by Skin Patrol on May 14, 2008 5:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It's been debunked pretty well

A single data point certainly wouldn’t debunk a book since there is always an allowance for random error in any model, but it’s hard to find many social scientists who don’t think that the Bell Curve is junk science. It’s interesting to read and do thought experiments with, but other than that it’s not really a useful work.

by Bob LaBlog on May 14, 2008 10:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs