Cognitive biases and heuristicscan lead to serious damages in multiple areas of life if you dont recognize them and stop them dead in their tracks! His or her editor will be fine. Translators of non fiction and proofreaders of academic papers and theses need to ensure vigilance in this regard too.
Hopefully, another lesson of the Imagine story for publishers will be that investing in fact-checking is worth the cost not only to avoid the financial and reputational consequences of uncorrected errors, but also to be sure that authors are fulfilling their part of the responsibility for the accuracy of their work.. It is written by Dr. Fiona McQuarrie. Bravo. What the numbers clearly show, and what she was clever enough to anticipate, Mr. West says, is that when people come together, they become much more productive per capita., One study by Mr. West and another physicist, Lus Bettencourt, Mr. Lehrer writes, suggests that a person living in a metropolis of one million should generate, on average, about 15 percent more patents and make 15 percent more money than a person living in a city of 500,000.. ASIN This is one of the questions I repeatedly ask myself and this book helps answer it. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2012. Sometimes (and I have had this) a well-meaning editor at the publisher end will actually introduce referencing errors I once had an editor strip out about half the content of my footnotes, because they were too long. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
Other problems that I found relating to referencing published academic research: Three other academic studies that were mentioned did not have references. It would seem to me the onus for responsible fact usage and truthfulness should be on the author. The Internet has such creative potential; its so ripe with weirdness and originality, so full of people eager to share their work and ideas. it gives credit where credit is due for work by other writers or researchers. Clearly, this statement should have a reference, since it reports factual material from a secondary source. Like all news journalists trained in legacy media, I do fully attribute all material used that I did not personally gather. Imagine has been pulled by its publisher as a result of that controversy, so pointing out additional problems with it may now be somewhat redundant. Please try again. I left publishing years ago, partly because publishers were doing everything possible to relegate tasks to computers so they could get rid of expensive people, and the work was becoming increasingly clerical and boring. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Learn to initiate and lead processes, make breakthroughs, face your fear of change, swim against the current, surprise everyone and yourself! You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges. I began reading this book, fascinated by some of the ideas, and not knowing much about Dylan's history or creative process, or the medical research Lerher describes. There is no reference for the direct quotes, although theres contextual information that makes, Footnote 3 on page 101 describes the cinematic improv of actor Mike Myers in a scene in an Austin Powers film (the Austin Powers film containing the scene is not identified, but its fairly easy to discover through Google that its. The fact that it did goes beyond the ethical debates around Lehrers own conduct, and should make publishers question their editorial processes and where they choose to invest resources in a project. I agree that readers should be able to expect accurate material, but as a responsible reader, I also take what I see and read with a grain of salt most times. In a lengthy and fascinating section on Pixar, Mr. Lehrer recounts how Steve Jobs designed that animation studio to force employees to visit the buildings main atrium: mailboxes were shifted to the lobby; meeting rooms were moved to the center of the building, followed by the cafeteria, coffee bar, gift shop and bathrooms. : Referencing in non-fiction writing is important. The past few months have been a series of revelations about Lehrer's tendencies to reuse his own material and make up quotes. Very efficient service. It seemed lazy and embarrassing, but not punishable. Wow. , Publisher These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. The model is tilted in favor of cutting corners to save costs. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. This book is interesting because it gives results of activities in companies actually doing research for new products. What is the catalyst for groundbreaking inventions and innovative breakthroughs? I was led to the book by highly favorable comments by Nick Hornby (whose critical columns are a joy), and I think that Hornby's praise was warranted, notwithstanding the also warranted criticism of Mr. Lehrer since. Learn how your comment data is processed. Moynihan takes no pleasure in having exposed someone whose talent he says he admired. I agree with previous reviewers though: the text is not very challenging, especially for someone who might be interested in creativity from a more scientific perspective. The referenced article is, Page 141 contains a discussion of an epic study of nearly every musical produced on Broadway between 1877 and 1990, analyzing the teams behind 2,258 different productions. "There was a point when it seemed panicky," he says, "and that's when it started to unravel." Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! 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And in the tradition of the fabulist James Frey, who wrote A Million Little Pieces, refunds are being offered to readers whose trust was betrayed. but thats how it went. "It was easy for people to forget that part of Jonah Lehrer's background and expertise didn't exist," Mendel says. Sacks spent decades as a practicing neurologist and psychologist, Mendel says, but Lehrer benefited too quickly from a system that likes its stars. Echoing Jane Jacobs, he argues that the sheer density of urban life, the proximity of all those overlapping minds, forces people to mingle and interact with a diversity of individuals. (LogOut/ With these suggestions, his book implies, you too might be able to maximize your creative output. But I cant agree with you that there ARE no consequences, at least in this particular case; as indicated by some of the stories linked in the post, Lehrer has lost several long-term contracts as a result of the problems with his work. Wow, you indeed did a very thorough research on this one. I write for UC Berkeleys newspaper, the Daily Californian, and just the other day, an entire post was taken down for self-plagiarism: http://www.dailycal.org/2012/09/12/but-you-looked-different-on-facebook/. That does explain why sometimes I found his evidence kind of hard to swallow. But as this commentator indicates, the publishing industry has put itself at risk for these kinds of catastrophes by cutting back or eliminating fact-checking resources. The first problematic reference in Imagineis within its first few pages, on page xvi of the Introduction: A recent survey of psychology papers published between 1950 and 2000 revealed that less than 1 percent of them investigated aspects of the creative process. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2018. Imagine had been a best-seller, another coup for the 31-year-old writer who was frequently asked to discuss science, creativity and the brain, including on NPR and with Stephen Colbert. The jostle and serendipity of city life, he believes, can provide a model for how the Internet might be retooled to accelerate creativity. The lying/cheating author will, we all know, resurface. Given this premise, the lack of a reference for this study is, in my opinion, a serious omission. Mendel adds that nonfiction writers throughout history have faked materials, discovered lost texts that weren't truly lost, or made up characters and events. Studies of Broadway musicals by Brian Uzzi, a sociologist at Northwestern University, Mr. Lehrer says, showed that relationships among collaborators were one of the most important factors in the success of a show. Fascinating article! Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. First impressions of the book: superb hard cover quality, elegant look, very inviting. 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If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. I absolutely appreciate your lessons learned for the publishing industry now if only the editors and publishers choose to review books with as keen an eye for detail as youve done here, we should be in good shape! We would be fools to think that Lehrer is the only one to have been negligent with the rigours of providing a complete and accurate bibliography. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. I had them all put back again. I suppose I fall into the particular sub-category of reader that Willingham describes as having an eye for detail but, in fairness, for many of the referencing problems I identified in Imagine, I was able to find the correct information in less than a few seconds through Google. The complete article is available here. This is why travel frequently seems to free the imagination, and why the young (who havent learned all sorts of rules) are often more innovative than their elders. This, he goes on, creates exactly the sort of collision of cultures and classes that often yields new ideas. The source of the quote is not referenced. Instead she saw a prototype for a new toy for girls: an alternative to the baby dolls then popular. Maybe I am just a cynical person. To clarify, when I spoke of the reputational consequences, I was referring primarily to the consequences for the publishing company of releasing a flawed product, not necessarily to consequences for the author. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2022, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. I mean, that's a matter of opinion, but i think it was an album before that. All material on this site is Dr. Fiona McQuarrie and All About Work, 2012-2022. Lehrer's publisher has stopped shipping Imagine and pulled the e-book version. It is interesting and simple enough to follow for anyone with no knowledge of Psychology. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. I cant believe I didnt know about all this controversy surrounding it when I read it. "You know, I do think in some level this is the predictable outcome of expecting a young journalist to be the next Oliver Sacks," says literary agent Scott Mendel. Before I outline what I found, Ill present a few disclaimers/boundaries. I wasnt really aware that it was the pubs responsibility to fact check (seriously, Im not being flip.) allegations of selective cherry-picking from that body of research. The book is relatively short because it focuses on giving evidence for just a few basic principles. This past week, I had the opportunity to read Jonah Lehrers Imagine the book thats part of the controversy about plagiarism and fabrication in Lehrers writing. It is quite shocking that this happened, and eye-opening indeed. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2012. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader. Information from each eye goes to both hemispheres. And you know, these are things that Dylan nerds like myself care about.". Ridiculous. Jobs believed, one producer explained, that the best meetings happened by accident, in the hallway or parking lot.. It always seemed wrong-headed to me isnt it important to make sure the author got things right?
(The copy I read came from my public library.) The idea for Post-it Notes came about when Arthur Fry, an engineer at 3M, was daydreaming in church, thinking how annoying it was that the bookmarks hed placed in his hymnal so frequently fell out. George de Mestral came up with Velcro after noticing burrs clinging to the fur of his dog. Intelligence, good writing and integrity do not always go together. There ARE no consequencesunlike a newspaper or magazine story which, if you press the editor, will print a correction in a later issue and which can, and sometimes will, fire a staffer and never again use that freelancer. Imagine is written for a popular (non-scientist) audience, so obviously it shouldnt be held to the same rigorous standard of referencing as, say, a scientific research article in a peer-reviewed academic journal. I am not trained as a neuroscientist, so I cant tell whether the neuroscience research described in Imagine is accurately reported or referenced, and I cant address the allegations of selective cherry-picking from that body of research. We have to draw distinction between inadvertent or even egregious referencing errors, and any deliberate deception by the author. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dr. Fiona McQuarrie and All About Work with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. "There were moments in it that I thought things were fishy," Moynihan says. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Thank you for your systematic, methodical post.
Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Indeed, group interaction appears to play a key role in innovation. Thanks for sharing this with me! Hopefully, another lesson of the Imagine story for publishers will be that investing in fact-checking is worth the cost not only to avoid the financial and reputational consequences of uncorrected errors, but also to be sure that authors are fulfilling their part of the responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Great analysis. it gives factual support to the writers claims; it demonstrates that the writer is familiar enough with existing knowledge about the subject to be able to make an informed contribution of new knowledge; it tells readers who want to learn more about the subject where they can find other sources of information; and. Now it seems like you cant trust anything you dont see for yourself. This has definetly changed my life. Suppose everything had been properly sited (the fact that references were sited at all might lend a false sense of legitimacy to the work,) how do we know the work cited was accurate or on the level?
That's not fun.". It is disconcerting to be reminded, after reading this book, about the underlying scandal of Mr. Lehrer's evidently "imagining" too much in his sourcing.
Former New Yorker staff writer Jonah Lehrer is the author of Imagine: How Creativity Works. The Barbie doll was reportedly born when Ruth Handler, a founder of Mattel, was on vacation in Switzerland and saw an unusual doll in the window of a cigarette shop: the doll was a pretty, well-endowed young woman with platinum blond hair. Anyone can read what you share. Creative Doing: 75 Practical Exercises to Unblock Your Creative Potential in Your W A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, The Doorstep Mile: Live More Adventurously Every Day, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life (Learn In and Use It for Life). Around the same time, in March, Lehrer's third book came out. 'It's a hard thing to describe,' Dylan would later remember. Lehrer confessed that he'd made up the quotes, and Moynihan published an article in the online magazine Tablet that led to Lehrer's resignation from The New Yorker, where he'd been a rising star. In the later pages of this engaging book Mr. Lehrer turns from analysis and reportage to prescription. From your critical analysis, i did learnt something from you. If a book is structured to include a reference list, its reasonable for the reader to expect that everything in the book that should be referenced is going to be referenced, and is going to be referenced accurately. Please try again.
I have no time for lies, however pretty or well.written they are!
"Look, in the course of doing my job, I was ensuring someone else would lose theirs. The sentence contributes to setting up the premise of the book: i.e., how creativity works hasnt been extensively researched, so the books contribution is to examine this important yet overlooked topic. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blogs author/owner is strictly prohibited. "I thought the general premise of the chapter that, you know, Dylan had a creative breakthrough with the writing of 'Like a Rolling Stone' was wrong. Having read it I will not need to refer to it again, but will pass it on to someone else in the family. But there is no reference included in the books reference list. : The InnoCentive Web site, started by an Eli Lilly executive in 2001, has shown that solutions to difficult scientific problems (which are posted online, with a monetary reward attached to each challenge) are often solved by people working at the margins of their fields, who were able to think outside the box.
'It's just this sense that you got something to say.' Nina Subin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (LogOut/ As he tells it: The Nike slogan Just Do It materialized when Dan Wieden, a founder of the advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy, thought of the last words uttered by the murderer Gary Gilmore before his execution Lets do it and gave them a tweak. Sold by Atasoys and ships from Amazon Fulfillment. Change). I am inspired. What makes the cartoon light bulb of creativity go off over someones head? That weak glue, Mr. Fry suddenly thought, might help him create the perfect bookmark, one that would stay put. The sub-title of Lehrers book is How creativity works. Creativity has always been somewhat of a mystery, something that comes down from somewhere or out of somewhere, randomly and unexpectedly. Id also point out that the rules of academia and the practices of trade/commercial publishers are not as different as you suggest. I have a professional interest in how scientific research findings get communicated to general audiences, but as a reader Im in some disbelief that a book with this many obvious problems ever got published as it is. A worth read, you will not be disappointed. Previous page of related Sponsored Products. Its entirely possible that some of those readers looked at conceptual or structural issues, and thus missed any referencing problems. In other words, Mr. Lehrer says: Chemists didnt solve chemistry problems, they solved molecular biology problems, just as molecular biologists solved chemistry problems. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. Apparently, not only was Lerher's understanding of our biology lacking, but, based on this misunderstanding, he invented a fake research narrative - an elaborate house of cards based on something that anyone who was awake through a semester of psychology should know to be false. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Oh and fact-check them. This is an excellent book not just in creativity but on the whole dynamics and culture that can support a creative environment. There are also problems with incomplete or inaccurate references to other types of sources. A Google search indicates that Malcolm Gladwell uses the same quote in his book, Page 108 contains a discussion of how Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards came up with the guitar riff for the song Satisfaction. Academic publishers (journals and books) also have differing degrees of fact-checking rigour; some review everything very closely, some dont check at all. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. He even quotes a theoretical physicist, Geoffrey West, who says he has found data that validates Jacobss theories.
Unable to add item to List. There was a problem loading your book clubs. The first has endnotes, index and bibliography, the second none of these. And using a research database to search journal content is not that much different from running a Google search. Now, Dylan nerds are notorious completists, so everything the singer's ever said is archived somewhere fairly easy to find for an inquisitive journalist.But Moynihan could not find seven Dylan quotes Lehrer used in his first chapter, so he started a three-week long correspondence with the author, who gave increasingly fantastical excuses for lacking sources.