tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post4387180527754384748..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Bolt, again!Steve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-44680672045264042262012-08-23T21:18:54.040-04:002012-08-23T21:18:54.040-04:00I will link this brief on innate-talent v. work-ha...I will link this brief on innate-talent v. work-hard, http://practicaltheory.org/blog/2012/08/23/genius-v-expertise/ , and only add that you have to have both if you really going to move the edge.David Coughlinhttp://twitter.com/dscoughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-31720721264728770382012-08-12T06:03:09.850-04:002012-08-12T06:03:09.850-04:00All the more reason to invest in health and life e...All the more reason to invest in health and life extension I guess.Louis Burkehttp://twitter.com/LaochCailiuilnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-77333571552905759482012-08-10T14:53:10.029-04:002012-08-10T14:53:10.029-04:00(It's instructive that Bolt's back flared ...(It's instructive that Bolt's back flared up in the most important race <br />of his life. In the weeks before the Olympics, Ralph Mann, a respected <br />biomechanist for USA Track and Field, talked about Bolt's mechanics and <br />injury problems. "You have to remember [Bolt has] been a freak for a <br />long time,'' said Mann to SI's David Epstein. "We knew heDavid Coughlinhttp://twitter.com/dscoughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-32410747508440968812012-08-09T10:08:37.740-04:002012-08-09T10:08:37.740-04:00It would be interesting to take a sample of totall...It would be interesting to take a sample of totally random people, randomly selected from all over the world, force them to train as runners, and then calculate the mean and SD of their distribution of post-training speeds. Would Bolt be more than 6 SD (one in a billion if the distribution is normal) faster than the average human?Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-448500198330189812012-08-07T14:15:34.552-04:002012-08-07T14:15:34.552-04:00Steve, do you have a sense of how exactly it varie...Steve, do you have a sense of how exactly it varies with age? I was curious (I'm about your age and the effect is distressingly obvious), but it looks like the answer is not clear cut: <br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_perception#Long-termRichard Seiternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-87483511283733188882012-08-07T11:30:46.814-04:002012-08-07T11:30:46.814-04:00When you are young a lot happens in a year and it ...When you are young a lot happens in a year and it seems like a long time. When you are older it seems years go by much more quickly.steve hsuhttp://duende.uoregon.edu/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-23504943913553576662012-08-07T11:24:37.857-04:002012-08-07T11:24:37.857-04:00What do you mean by that?What do you mean by that?Louis Burkehttp://twitter.com/LaochCailiuilnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-2822430858270095052012-08-07T09:52:51.417-04:002012-08-07T09:52:51.417-04:00Would you agree then that this underlies an unfair...Would you agree then that this underlies an unfairness in the modern Olympics? Or even a futility? Essentially we're giving out medals to people with a strong predisposition for performance regardless of work? Bolt, Phelps etc. are the fittest phenotypes, for want of a better word, in the fitness landscape for their respective problem domains/sports.Louis Burkehttp://twitter.com/LaochCailiuilnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-35512617601541405132012-08-06T21:58:42.460-04:002012-08-06T21:58:42.460-04:00Not sure where I heard this from, but I seem to re...Not sure where I heard this from, but I seem to recall reading a while back that some baseball player estimated that probably around 50% of major league baseball players used performance enhancing drugs. Not sure how accurate that estimate is, but it's definitely mind-boggling. It almost makes you wonder whether or not at a certain threshold the playing field isn't perversely level again.Yan Shenhttp://profiles.google.com/yanshen71786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-28221218508645479602012-08-06T21:48:14.666-04:002012-08-06T21:48:14.666-04:00It's possible both Blake and Bolt are dopers. ...It's possible both Blake and Bolt are dopers. I'm assuming Bolt is not, but I don't know (for that matter I don't know about Phelps, and didn't know about Armstrong for many years). If Blake is a doper he's comparable to Ben Johnson in talent level -- without the steroids he'd be good but not great. The fact that the Jamaicans (both M and W) have been so successful in steve hsuhttp://duende.uoregon.edu/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-83303450829578129732012-08-06T21:34:31.289-04:002012-08-06T21:34:31.289-04:00The first two places were taken by men from an isl...The first two places were taken by men from an island of 1.2 million males, some fraction of which are of suitable age to sprint at a top level. I'm sure a Bolt is much more uncommon than a Phelps, but those estimates seem pretty implausible.InfinityBallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-12565638870395961112012-08-06T19:10:12.532-04:002012-08-06T19:10:12.532-04:00Jon Entine has written a number of articles and a ...Jon Entine has written a number of articles and a book (entitled 'Taboo') covering those issues and bio cultural athletic hotspots.bottinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-84584935048095855882012-08-06T18:31:06.648-04:002012-08-06T18:31:06.648-04:00Indeed ;-) I guess this particular form of PC has...Indeed ;-) I guess this particular form of PC has not infected the French as much as the Americans. It might have something to do with the French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre being the second person not of Western African ancestry to run a sub-10s 100M: <br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christophe_Lemaitre<br />Some more commentary about the book: http://www.france24.com/en/Richard Seiternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-46662683311459145012012-08-06T16:36:32.148-04:002012-08-06T16:36:32.148-04:00All I can say about the cartoon is "wow."...All I can say about the cartoon is "wow."dwbuddhttp://twitter.com/dwbuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-91897048905676769022012-08-06T16:36:09.584-04:002012-08-06T16:36:09.584-04:00Precisely; Michael Jordan was blessed with awesome...Precisely; Michael Jordan was blessed with awesome abilities, but the idea that he just rolled out of bed and showed up at the gym? Often, high achievers will downplay the role of hard work in their accomplishments.dwbuddhttp://twitter.com/dwbuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-51029040798439149932012-08-06T16:35:08.897-04:002012-08-06T16:35:08.897-04:00The following comment on book number two really sa...The following comment on book number two really says it all:<br /><br />"Le cadre du "politiquement correct" rend le traitement de la question très périlleux."dwbuddhttp://twitter.com/dwbuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-65763069105744586272012-08-06T15:49:35.265-04:002012-08-06T15:49:35.265-04:00Two books on this topic (the second is in French):...Two books on this topic (the second is in French):<br />http://www.amazon.com/Taboo-Athletes-Dominate-Sports-Afraid/dp/158648026X <br /><br />http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/2246785316Richard Seiternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-9505041772523528472012-08-06T15:47:29.337-04:002012-08-06T15:47:29.337-04:00This NYT page has a graphic showing times (as mete...This NYT page has a graphic showing times (as meters behind Bolt in 2012) for ALL the Olympic 100M medal winners. Worth a look: <br />http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/the-100-meter-dash-one-race-every-medalist-ever.htmlRichard Seiternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-89668807867853062522012-08-06T15:45:51.251-04:002012-08-06T15:45:51.251-04:00As I recall, Michael Jordan was an epic grinder, e...As I recall, Michael Jordan was an epic grinder, epically intense in practice.<br /><br />Three weeks is not a grind. A year and a half of up and down training for the fast man on the planet in order to get ready to hone the knife to razor sharpness in 3 weeks, that is a grind. The grind is in the discipline that it takes to do the right things. I think that you let the kid undersell you on David Coughlinhttp://twitter.com/dscoughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-74842155468299210282012-08-06T15:26:06.221-04:002012-08-06T15:26:06.221-04:00I read a humorous interview with Ato Boldon [and n...I read a humorous interview with Ato Boldon [and now that my reference points are ajumble, it might have been as long as four years ago]. He was talking about the sprinter's ethos. They critique each other's races and think, "That's as fast as he can run." But then you ask them how fast they can run and they say, "Oh, I could run 9.2 if I got it all together." David Coughlinhttp://twitter.com/dscoughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-70403314613190450802012-08-06T14:34:51.347-04:002012-08-06T14:34:51.347-04:00Now we are talking. Those are great sports.Now we are talking. Those are great sports.Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-54475408592400347382012-08-06T14:19:23.258-04:002012-08-06T14:19:23.258-04:00Yan, I couldn't agree with your last sentence ...Yan, I couldn't agree with your last sentence more. I have no idea if the Chinese girl cheats, knowingly or unknowingly, and don't really care. I don't know if Phelps cheats and don't really care. I hope they are all clean and I enjoy watching people realize their dreams regardless of their nationality. We are all human in the end.Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-33145617631025094902012-08-06T14:16:23.067-04:002012-08-06T14:16:23.067-04:00Yes; I *understand* the point from the perspective...Yes; I *understand* the point from the perspective of sample size. I just think that it's a bit more likely that a talented swimmer in, say Panama, is overlooked than that a talented sprinter will be - but not much. The number of kids who compete (and train) for athletics in poor countries is pretty small, I would think.<br /><br /><br />I apologise - it's not my intention to hijack dwbuddhttp://twitter.com/dwbuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-66203711458579454442012-08-06T14:13:03.986-04:002012-08-06T14:13:03.986-04:00Yan - I think it's fair to say that there is m...Yan - I think it's fair to say that there is more cheating in sport EVERYWHERE than most would want to admit. <br /><br /><br />Americans are notoriously poor losers, in my experience, and quick to explain away their own short-comings with indignant claims that someone else "cheated," or that the training programmes of others are somehow inhuman. Like I said, take a look at dwbuddhttp://twitter.com/dwbuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-89978660033002934202012-08-06T13:54:12.024-04:002012-08-06T13:54:12.024-04:00Silver: "... an athlete with the perfect swim...Silver: "... an athlete with the perfect swimmer’s build and a world-class work ethic would still stand little chance of competing in this year’s games if he happened to be born in a poor nation like Cameroon or Panama — he might never have gotten into a pool, let alone an Olympic-size one. But running, especially over short distances, can be practiced virtually anywhere and anytime."<steve hsuhttp://duende.uoregon.edu/noreply@blogger.com