Malcolm Gladwell On Culture and Airplane Crashes

theodp writes "While the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 pilots' lack of communication puzzles crash investigators, readers of author Malcolm Gladwell are likely having a deja vu moment. Back in 2008, Gladwell dedicated a whole chapter of his then-new book Outliers to Culture, Cockpit Communication and Plane Crashes (old YouTube interview). 'Korean Air had more plane crashes than almost any other airline in the world for a period at the end of the 1990s,' Gladwell explained in an interview. 'When we think of airline crashes, we think, Oh, they must have had old planes. They must have had badly trained pilots. No. What they were struggling with was a cultural legacy, that Korean culture is hierarchical. You are obliged to be deferential toward your elders and superiors in a way that would be unimaginable in the U.S.'"

Comments

Re:I remember being puzzled by that chapter

[Teancum]

I am convinced that Barack Obama could pull out a gun during a State of the Union address and kill somebody live on air before the nation and the whole of Congress assembled and articles of impeachment would still not be drafted. He is completely untouchable.

Note: I am not suggesting that Obama (or any other person holding the office of President of the United States) should be given a blank check to do anything, I'm just suggesting that in this case Obama has such a political following and fanatical supporters that he could literally get away with murder or do anything else he desired as nobody would prosecute. That also isn't good for the American Republic, but America voted him into office and that is who Obama actually is.

Re:I remember being puzzled by that chapter

[Hatta]

Obama has such a political following and fanatical supporters that he could literally get away with murder

He already has.