Over the weekend, renowned Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker penned a reasonably critical review of Malcolm Gladwell's latest, What The Dog Saw, a collection of his New Yorker features. But whereas many "bad" reviews resort to sloppy ad hominem arguments or sound merely like the settling of personal scores, Pinker's careful intellectual and substantive piece has already garnered a response from the best selling, afro-ed writer in the form of a letter to the editor of the New York Times. Hooray for civil, engaging debate! (more...)