The Underdog

Will

Will writes from Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington, Virginia). You can reach him at willblogcorrespondence at gmail dot com.

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3 Responses

  1. Mike says:

    interesting article, with nice examples. But isn’t Gladwell’s basic point lifted straight from Nietzsche? (David:Goliath :: master morality : slave morality)

    Also, youtube embed is brokenReport

  2. Will says:

    Mike –

    Thanks for the heads-up. That’s an interesting point, though I think Gladwell’s larger argument is purely descriptive: underdog tactics are effective but rarely used because they’re so much more difficult to implement.Report

  3. Mike says:

    Yeah, you’re right… it might not be his overarching argument, but I was struck by the section what ends with “It isn’t surprising that the tournament directors found Eurisko’s strategies beyond the pale. It’s wrong to sink your own ships, they believed. And they were right. But let’s remember who made that rule: Goliath. And let’s remember why Goliath made that rule: when the world has to play on Goliath’s terms, Goliath wins.” I was totally on board with Gladwell until then.Report