Manny the Person

Manny Ramirez is widely known for his antics on the field. Some receive praise, but most receive negative feedback. Often criticized for his laissez-faire attitude and 'showing up the opposing pitcher', all of which widely publicized, Manny is always smiling at the plate or in left field. He talks to the media a heck of a lot more than he should (although half of what he says makes absolutely no sense), ultimately resulting in Manny shrugging off the backlash of his comments while reporters wonder what is going on in his head. But the Boston Red Sox know one thing: they'll get more good than bad with Manny Ramirez.

Manny the Player

Like him or not, you cannot deny his talent and ability to play the game. The guy is an absolute machine. A nine-time Silver Slugger Award winner and 12 time All-Star, Manny Ramirez is the guy I want at the plate when the game is on the line. Over the course of his 16-year career, Manny sports a .313 batting average and a .592 slugging percentage, with season averages of 184 hits, 111 runs, 39 doubles, 41 home runs, and 139 runs batted in. And if you don't watch baseball, all I have to tell you is that these stats are simply unimaginable over a 16-year stretch. Not many players have stats this impressive and that consistently over a long period of time. In fact, Manny is only one of five players this decade to hit at least 30 home runs and record at least 100 RBI six times this decade. He is, arguably, the best right-handed hitter of all-time.

Manny Being Manny

"Why should we panic? We've got a great team...If it doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."

I'm not going to lie to you; when I heard the above quote, I almost shit. Ironically, he played better than anyone in that series, and ultimately led the Red Sox to the World Series title. When push comes to shove, it's hard not to like this guy. You may call him a showboat, I call him a showman. His antics are never planned (a la Chad Johnson), but will always be more entertaining because it's, well, Manny being Manny in that specific moment. He plays hard everyday and has more fun than anyone. His smile goes from ear to ear regardless of what happens, and while that may anger some players, coaches, and fans, I find it quite refreshing. He plays the game purely for the love of it, never taking life too seriously. If he goes 0-4 today, he'll knows he'll get another crack at it tomorrow. That's what makes him genuine, and that's what makes him Manny.

New York's Takeshi Miyakawa Design team offers up Fractal 23, a set of fractal drawers. This via Boing Boing. tjc

Perfect segue to a conversation we linked to back in the beginning of April between designer and MoMA curator Paola Antonelli and Benoit Mandelbrot, father of the fractal, in Seed Magazine:

PA: I would like to ask you about some major phenomena that have happened in the world since the publication of your books, phenomena that seem almost manifestations of fractals in the world. One is the internet, for instance.

BM: I was well placed to know about the internet since of course it became very important when I worked for many years at IBM. And colleagues mentioned to me some strange things about the way in which the internet became organized. There was no single overall architect and many things were happening by local decisions. A terrible mess ensued and the question was, can you see any order in that mess? I was pleased to discover some order, though it was not my field.

And another conversation between documentary filmmaker (and Kottke man-crush) Errol Morris and Marc Hauser, an evolutionary psychologist:

MH: Right. And there's the selfish gene view of this, which is that we evolved minds that always take into account the other because it's self-serving, right? I think about what others are going to respond to in terms of my actions because I want to make sure that I'm maximizing my own self-good. And then there's the group selection view, the idea that we act altruistically because it benefits our group.
There are these interesting experiential games that have been developed by economists, and the typical economics view is we're self maximizing, we're selfish, rational players.

EM: Yeah.

So, to conclude: fractals are natural growth patterns; the internet is a fractal, order from chaos based on collaboration and cooperation; it can be proved, socially, through game theory (the Prisoner's Dilemma) that basing your decisions on the benefit to the group is best; and selfishness and community responsibility are not mutually exclusive. My conclusion is that cooperation and collaboration is a natural, successful problem-solving method. The best, in my opinion. Anyway, that's just my tangent, but these two conversations are broad and wonderfully interesting. tjc

Former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama yesterday. Trailhead Christopher Beam of Slate Magazine tells us why this is so important. That and he flat out insinuates that West Virginia a racist state. And quite frankly, given the exit poll numbers, I can't blame him. jmj ... I can tell you why not only isn't this important but why it actually insults the American public, all the while we let it happen. Perhaps two weeks from now I'll get into it. glc

The National Education Association's resident No Child Left Behind expert tells us why the No Child Left Behind Act has been nothing but hype. jmj

Interesting editorial from Investor's Business Daily on the impact of the Sun on the Earth's climate. Long story short, the sun effect is exponentially greater then any effect we may have and based on centuries worth of data we MAY be entering into a significant cooling period. Blame it on sun spots. glc

Via Drudge, GE is looking into the possibility of selling or spinning off their appliance unit. Possibly ending a century long run in the industry. glc

I am currently reading Steinbeck's The Winter of our Discontent. I had no idea how funny the dialogue was. glc

I'm not sure, but I think this site's a metameme. From Wikipedia, "It has to be noted that any metameme is potentially infinite." Nice. This site is potentially infinite. I think I new that implicitly, but I'm now very happy to know it explicitly. Another example of a metameme, from the wiki: tjc

It is a common occurrence for users to exclaim that Milhouse is "not a meme" whenever someone professes otherwise. It's happened so often that eventually the term "Milhouse is not a meme" became a meme. Users would then jokingly telescope this concept out further ("Milhouse is not a meme is a meme" is not a meme).

Predictably Irrational takes a look at minimizing regret and the ease of imagining another reality. All stemming from the mind of a 9-year-old. What we want to achieve doesn't always make much sense when viewed logically and rationally by an outside party. Then again that's the point of his entire project... haha. glc

A recent Indexed submission from Jessica Hagy most certainly hit home. Mostly due to the fact that I recently found myself inside a bar that required me to remove my hat. I don't understand shit bars that try to portray themselves as something they aren't. Interestingly enough if you are looking for a comfortable environment or hoping to meet people worth a damn in conversation then head to the dive bars that have no clothes restrictions. If you are looking to get wasted, act a fool, be forced to remove your hat, essentially submit to a handful of mindless unwritten dress code rules, oh and take some random skank home for a cheap lay then head to Mad River in Philadelphia! Good times. Good times. Oh and isn't it also interesting that these so-called 'hip' places that require you to dress a certain way always and only serve the shittiest light beer while the corner pub and neighborhood restaurant that allow you to come as you please serve a phenomenal menu and a killer beer selection. Ok, I'm done ranting. glc

From Slate: letter to young procrastinators. Advice: accept your fate. tjc

MySpace has won a 230$ Million settlement against professional spammers Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines. It doesn't seem as if they anticipate they will ever be paid but hopefully this will set a precedent for any other would be spammer. (via slashdot) glc

In the meantime, my article on Monday, "gr8st gen evr... whos the dum 1 now?" got a response from the author of the book I took a swing at, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future."

Mark Bauerlein, who I no longer consider a jerk, posted the following.

(I just realized, looking at the cover, that he's talking about - not who I was referring to as kids - but me and my cohorts. We are all pre-30 year-olds. Now I'm fighting the urge to bring back the jerk comment.)

Mark Bauerlein said:

Some good points, Timothy, that call for a response. I hope you look at the book, if only to browse it in a bookstore. You'll find mounds of empirical evidence to back up the claims, ranging from test scores to screen reading to vocabulary studies to information literacy measures to remedial course taking to book buying . . . And I'm always open to disconfirming evidence, which will lead me to soften the thesis.

MB

My response follows.

Timothy J. Carroll said:

Mark,

Props for responding, so I'll take back the jerk comment.

As far as evidence, empirical or otherwise, I think it's one of the major causes of truthiness. Stats can be misinterpreted and/or misleading.

So as a rule, we follow the Whitman Edict, as stated on our about page. It says, in part, "You shall no longer take things at second or third hand ... nor feed on the spectres in books ... You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self."

And my gut says that even if these kids are as dumb as you say, then my book on the subject would be called "The Kickstart Generation: How kids today are bombarded with information and swimming in social disenfranchisement, and how we can help to kickstart their future."

But that's just me.

Anyway, like I said at the start, respect for not calling yourself slimjim143 and telling me to go eff myself. Civil discourse is much more fun.

tjc

So, Mark, if your listening, you are welcome to responded again. And I encourage the readers to chime in as well. Oh, and not to exclude Drew, who also commented (before Mark and I):

AmC iN da hiZZy said:

I would rather people like this guy think that i am dumb because it will hit them so much harder when their employer offers them an early retirement package and then turns around and gives their job to a "Kid" who is my age and gives this "Kid" more money because they went to a college that had computers in every room rather than learning powerpoint from an instructor at the local YMcA with other closed minded Baby boomers Great Article tIm keep up the good worK

Disclaimer: There were no spelling or grammer laws injured in this posting

UPDATE: Mark responded again this morning: tjc

Thanks, Timothy, and I kinda like your title, too.

MB

Politico.com gives us five reasons why an Obama-Clinton ticket is nuts and five reasons why it isn't. jmj

Can someone please explain to me how the hell the Florida Marlins have the best record in baseball? After years of being notorious for buying World Series championships then hosting a yard sale in the off-season, it looks as though the Marlins finally have built themselves a farm system. Oh, and the Tampa Bay Rays aren't too bad either. jmj

The latest Paste poll asks what will be the blockbuster movie of 2008? If you ask me, the answer is pretty obvious: The Dark Knight. jmj

GOOD Magazine on the 100K House project in North Philadelphia. Tackling the challenge of creating a sustainable living design, most often a luxury, for a price will below the norm. glc

Roger Ebert looks into what are the real story lines are behind the Clinton campaign. (via tmn) glc

There is an epidemic infecting adult males over the age of 25. Facebook. This reminds me of a link I came across on Snarmarket about the Illusion of Absolution that a site like Twitter removes from the online community. In those terms I feel Facebook is much the same. You have the control to privatize as much or as little as you like on Facebook. The control really is in yours hands. Though since many of those private options are only enabled proactively I guess many could hide behind the Illusion of Absolution. Though taking no action is just a convienent excuse to broadcast your life to hundreds? thousands? millions? of others without taking the responsibility of doing just that. glc

First off, I don't speak like that.

I text full words and capitalize when need be. I actually write out, "In my honest opinion." But some people don't. Even the Freakonomics guys say, "IMHO." They are very smart, the Freakonomics guys. Very smart.
So, using Text-speak does not preclude anyone from being smart. That's first.

But what I'm here to do is defend the young bucks. They are not dumb.

Author Mark Bauerlein has a new book, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future."
According to a Boston.com article, Bauerlein outlines eight reasons why this is the Dumbest Generation. I have written here about being stupefied by the Digital Age. I called it the Lebowski Complex (Part I, Part II). So I am in agreeance that we can be stupefied. But not stupid. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

One last quibble before I go point-by-point: They're still kids, this Next Generation. Kids! What did Bauerlein have to show for his intelligence before the age of 25? My guess, nada.

Reason 1: Not knowing things

1. They make excellent "Jaywalking'' targets
Bauerlein writes: "The ignorance is hard to believe ... It isn't enough to say that these young people are uninterested in world realities. They are actively cut off from them. ... They are encased in more immediate realities that shut out conditions beyond -- friends, work, clothes, cars, pop music, sitcoms, Facebook.''

I don't watch Leno, but I am sure that it isn't just young men and women who come up short on the basic questions that Leno poses to random pedestrians.
Certainly, there are many people who don't know what the capital of Kentucky is, who the Secretary of Defense is, or where Djibouti is. You could embarrass any number of people dropping these questions on them. But my Spidey-sense says that Leno is wan to embarrass elderly, or even regular grown-ups, on national television. So is it possible that he preys on the young? Yes.
The fact that Bauerlein could base a thesis, one-eighth of it, on a late night television skit leaves me wondering if he isn't the dumb one.

Reason 2: Reading

2. They don't read books -- and don't want to, either
"It's a new attitude, this brazen disregard of books and reading. Earlier generations resented homework assignments, of course, and only a small segment of each dove into the intellectual currents of the time, but no generation trumpeted aliteracy ... as a valid behavior of their peers.''

Reading can come in different forms, or didn't Bauerlein know this? You can read and be aware of things without reading a book. So at least they are literate, and computer literate. But beyond that, I take umbrage to the fact that books are some high and mighty source of information. I like books. I read books, but not as much as I should. So does that make me stupid. Not at all. I'm just book-lazy. And I bet I'm not alone. Can Tom Clancy or Jacky Collins make you smarter? Not sure about that one.

Reason 3: Text-speak

3. They can't spell
Lack of capitalization and IM codes dominate online writing. Without spellcheck, folks are toast.

My dad (sorry Dad!) can't spell. He relies on spellcheck. It has never kept him from being successful, nor I. And I doubt it will for the younger generation. See above for more explanation. Text-speak is like knowing a foreign language.

Reason 4: Not creative?

4. They get ridiculed for original thought, good writing
"On MySpace, if you write clearly and compose coherent paragraphs with informed observations on history and current events, 'buddies' will make fun of you,'' Bauerlein says. Wikipedia writing is clean and factual, but colorless and judgment-free. Often the most clever students, with flashes of disorganized brilliance on MySpace, switch to dull Wiki-writing formats for school papers, he says. "If we could combine the style and imagination of MySpace with the content of Wikipedia, we might get good stuff."

I want to tee off on this one. First off, I think this site IS a combination of MySpace and Wikipedia. But we didn't get it going until late in our twenties. So give the kids some time and I bet they blow you away. Second, this guy wrote a book calling a whole generation dumb. His judgement call is no more learning-promotive than the MySpace 'buddies' he calls out for making fun of intelligent posts. He is doing exactly what he's criticizing. Very hypocritical. You're dumb, because you call each other dumb. And now I call you dumb. So there!

Reason 5: Video Games

5. Grand Theft Auto IV, etc.
The stats tell the story here. First week's sales: $500 million. The sales of GTA dwarf movie premieres, CD sales, or, Bauerlein notes, book sales. All that video use, Bauerlein says, has hurt in the classroom, too. Thousands of Massachusetts public school graduates are ending up in remedial reading and writing classes in college, according to a Globe story.

I grew up playing some sports games, some battle games, and some great games like Sim City and Tetris. Most of these games were helpful with problem solving and hand-eye coordination. But now the Wii has an exercise program. Rock Band works on team building. And as far as GTA is concerned... well all I can say is that it doesn't cause a problem. Most likely the problem was already there and, in some cases, it may exasperate it. But video games are not evil. They can be a good tool, if used in moderation like anything else. Going out to play sports could lead to steroid use, but we don't knock sports for the bad apples. Do we? And a comment on the last part of the article's paragraph: I am and always have been a good writer. And I couldn't place out of a remedial reading course (surprisingly, I did place out of math). It's a racket for the schools to make money. I believe that. One more course to pay for, that's all. It's a business and remedial courses are an add-on sale. Plain and simple.

Reason 6: Retaining information

6. They don't store the information
"For digital immigrants, people who are 40 years old who spent their college time in the library acquiring information, the Internet is really a miraculous source of knowledge,'' Bauerlein says. "Digital natives, however, go to the Internet not to store knowledge in their minds, but to retrieve material and pass it along. The Internet is just a delivery system.''

With an overabundance of information to begin with, maybe kids just have selective retention. Maybe they need to NOT bog their brains down with every last fact and formula. Keep in mind, it's still there to be had at the click of a mouse button. So why remember it if you don't have to? But, I'm not sure how Bauerlein knows this, how he can say that information is just a pass-it-along note from one IM-er to another. Why would anyone waste his or her time to pass something along without knowing what that piece of information is. Very dubious claim.

Reason 7: Parents and teachers

7. Because their teachers don't tell them so
Or because their parents don't check their bedrooms at midnight to halt the instant messaging..."Kids are drowning in teen stuff delivered 24/7 by the tools, and adult realities can't penetrate," Bauerlein says. Another factor: "It's the era of child-centered classrooms and self-esteem grading.''

How dare he. Parents are as new to this as the kids are. Teachers, ditto. What is wrong with child-centered classrooms? Don't Montessori schools prove this to be a very good model for education? And as far as self-esteem grading, I bet there are thousands of hard-working, fair-minded teachers out there who would beg to differ. These kids are not dumb, and if you think that by a teacher telling them that they are dumb, that somehow they will then find the key to intelligence, well I doubt that that is the way to solve this "problem." It has always been the teachers who had instilled a confidence in me that helped me to develop. Not the teachers who said, "You are dumb, get smarter."

Reason 8: Youth

8. Because they're young
Do you remember how stupid you were when you were a teen-ager? Or all that you didn't know -- and thought you did? And the skills you gained by holding back on foolish comments? Oh, the now-old guy in this picture (Bob Dylan)? He once wrote: "I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now.''

He makes my point here. And totally makes himself look like an ass. If it is because these kids are so young that they are so "dumb," then why call them dumb? What are you hoping to accomplish? You defeat your own thesis here. Yes, they are young. So were the Boom Generation at one point. Were they the greatest generation at 15?

Bauerlein, the grown man that he is, is dumb. He thinks that by telling a generation of young people that they are lacking intelligence, somehow, that by doing that he is helping the situation. Yo buddy, if you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. So kids, listen: 1. Watch out for Leno, 2. Read Catch-22, 3. Keep on communicating quickly, 4. Stay on MySpace and read Wikipedia, 5. Play video games (in moderation), 6. Don't stop spreading information, 7. Be thankful to your parents and teachers for letting you experience life and make mistakes, and most importantly, 8. Stay young. The older you get, the more you think it's okay to call other people dumb. Don't get old, like Bauerlein. The jerk.