tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post2045326170267777994..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: David Brooks Wants Men to Be More Like WomenStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-64230897866779204042019-07-31T12:29:01.337-07:002019-07-31T12:29:01.337-07:00Anon, I think you just described the Obama mystiqu...Anon, I think you just described the Obama mystique.UbuMaccabeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00237833458790876775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-41168253322363989452019-07-31T05:52:11.665-07:002019-07-31T05:52:11.665-07:00One reason for men not to be like women is that fo...One reason for men not to be like women is that for a significant number of women style always wins over substance. Action always loses to a pretty speech. Accomplishment loses out to niceties. They will trade freedom for slavery if it sounds good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-10323689507005305392019-07-30T10:38:01.315-07:002019-07-30T10:38:01.315-07:00Not that I needed one, but now I have another reas...Not that I needed one, but now I have another reason to dislike David Brooks.<br /><br />"Why feminism did not understand that destigmatizing divorce would disadvantage women is beyond me." Overconfidence. Failure to fully investigate possible problems. Thinking they're smarter than men (SEE: Overconfidence.) <br /><br /><br /><br />Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-21299971810650970172019-07-30T07:49:32.046-07:002019-07-30T07:49:32.046-07:00One thing Brooks seems to ignore: What do *women*...One thing Brooks seems to ignore: What do *women* think/feel about his recommended strategy?...really and truly, deep down, not just at the superficial virtue-signaling level?<br /><br />Indeed, would his new wife have been attracted to him had he not been successful, high-status, and prominent? She may not know herself: in addition to conscious gold-digging, there are subconscious attraction factors.<br /><br />Kipling wrote an interesting poem which is relevant here. The context was an 1890 proposal by Kaiser Wilhelm II for some kind of European-wide social reform, intended to help the working classes. <br /><br />https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/imperial_rescript.html<br /><br />"You can lighten the curse of Adam when you've lifted the curse of Eve"David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-52644143909653945552019-07-30T07:16:08.458-07:002019-07-30T07:16:08.458-07:00Meh, I'm with Brooks. Balance is not the same ...Meh, I'm with Brooks. Balance is not the same as laxity. One can do great work and still have boundaries. But even granting your premise, how happy are the guys who achieve partner but end up twice divorced and absent from the lives of their kids? Most of us are not going to be a Michelangelo, Tolstoy, or Pasteur. I maintain that one can do excellent work while still having other priorities, but if I have to choose between being a great husband and father or being at the top of my field, the choice is easy. Not to mention - despite your scorn, Brooks is pretty accomplished by any reasonable standard. Mattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-48548361116701605962019-07-30T06:30:07.933-07:002019-07-30T06:30:07.933-07:00A rather confused article from Brooks. It is true...A rather confused article from Brooks. It is true that many highly-successful people have interests outside of their work: information-theory pioneer Richard Hamming was a juggler and unicyclist, as well as a chess player; Alan Turing was a competition-quality long-distance runner. Einstein, IIRC, was a pretty good violinist.<br /><br />It is also true that certain work environments place an undue emphasis on raw hours worked.<br /><br />But still, pursuing a serious career does require focus and sacrifices. The jet engine pioneer Gerhard Neumann, who ran and largely created GE's huge jet engine business, wrapped up his memoir with the following thoughts:<br /><br />"Inevitably, I am asked if, knowing what I know now, I would again steer the same course in my postwar career and accept General Electric's offer for the top position in its jet engine business, then hold it for seventeen long years. Climbing the ladder of success was made easy for me, and I was regarded handsomely, not only with regard to the salary I received: There was a lot of recognition, satisfaction, and personal pride involved. But the price I paid was very high...There was barely time left to spend with my wife, who understood the problem and wanted me to do whatever I felt I had to do. I tried to be a reasonably good father, yet my three children had to grow up without much attention from their old man...I will not answer here the question, Would you do it again...? I leavelit at that; but I want to alert ambitious go-getters to ponder very carefully the problems that go with accepting a promotion to a top position and the price they will have to pay, before they say, "Yes sir. Thank you.""David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-17224130815911148552019-07-30T05:17:07.472-07:002019-07-30T05:17:07.472-07:00David Epstein is a sportswriter.David Epstein is a sportswriter.trigger warninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06310637474428322994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-19001480295506954362019-07-30T05:07:51.154-07:002019-07-30T05:07:51.154-07:00I am grateful that Jonas Salk, Madame Curie, &...I am grateful that Jonas Salk, Madame Curie, & Louis Pasteur did not seek "work/life balance". You are right, Brooks is full of hooey. <br />sharecropperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15600667235315043329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-8583848910949992132019-07-30T05:01:39.068-07:002019-07-30T05:01:39.068-07:00It is so embarrassing to me that I read one of his...It is so embarrassing to me that I read one of his books, The Social Animal, and enjoyed it. The only excuse I have is I was in the hospital after horrible accident tons of painkillers so it must have dulled my witswhitneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01339343160301118530noreply@blogger.com