We interrupt your previously scheduled rant, “Ranting Myths: Part II”, to bring you this special rant. Ranking Myths: Part II will air in its entirety following the Olympics.
Now for those of you wondering which organization Ed Norton fights for, please see *HERE*.
At this point some of you are wondering what Edward Norton has to do with MMA and those of you that know me better have already started making popcorn or grabbed a fresh soda because you know this is going to be a long one. I politely request Matlock (see *HERE*) level leniency and assure you my client is innocent…errr that there is a point at the end of this. 8)
Like many of my rants this one starts when I was unable to keep my mouth shut when someone with an IQ below room temperature said something. For the sake of feigning brevity I’ll give you the condensed version, the names have been changed to protect the stupid:
Idiot – Oh man Ed No-TIN sucks. (So close, maybe he’ll get it right next time)
ep (that’s me) – Are you talking about Ed Nor-TON?
Idiot – Yeah, I was just telling *soandso* that Ed No-TIN (Guess not) is horrible and I’m not going to watch any of his movies ever again.
ep – Really? You didn’t like him in Primal Fear? (mistake #2 on my part for those keeping track at home)
Idiot – Primal what?
ep – Primal Fear, the movie with Edward Norton and Richard Gere.
Idiot – Oh, yeah, I never saw that one.
ep – Ah, it was one of his first. I thought he did alright in that. What didn’t you like about him in The Score?
Idiot – Was that the one with Scarlett Johansson?
ep – No, that was The Perfect Score. (I hate myself for knowing that)
Flash ahead 15 mind numbing minutes and it turns out that the list of movies with Edward Norton in them that mouth breather up there has seen is:
1) Death to Smoochy
Yeah, that’s it. Out of more than a dozen credited roles and numerous movie award nominations this person has only seen *ONE* of Edward Norton’s movies and arguably one of his worst.
At this point I want to make clear that I don’t consider myself a huge Edward Norton fan by any means. I know what his actual name is, but I don’t automatically go see any and every movie he’s in. I think it would be more accurate to say that I have a reasonable degree of respect for what he has done and what he is capable of. Not everyone of his roles/movies has been amazing, but I can still admit that some movies that I’ve seen could have been at least a little bit better if he were in them.
How this ties into MMA is that I often see “fans” of MMA doing the exact same thing this nincompoop (spell checker accepted it, so it must be a word!) was doing to fighters. They will say “Fighter A is a can~!!!”, but they’ve never seen them fight. They don’t know who they fought and they have no idea who their opponents have fought.
Despite having no idea what the person has actually done these people still feel perfectly comfortable to not only speak about the person themselves, but where they fall in the grand scheme of things. As I said above I’m not certain Ed Norton is in my “Top 10″ favorite actors of all time, but I am absolutely certain he would be ranked lower if the only movie I’d ever seen was Death to Smoochy.
This brings us to the “Ed Norton Law”:
As a person’s knowledge of a subject increases, so too does the chance they are correct.
To be put this another way since I’m hungry…
Imagine being at a friend’s house and attempting to order a pizza. Your friend says “it’s gotta be domino’s”, and you politely counter with a nice mom & pop shop that makes good Neapolitans. They say they’ve never tried it, but “Domino’s is way better”. You shake your head and then mention the local pub that makes a good Sicilian pie. They again claim to have never had it, but they are *CERTAIN* domino’s is the best.
First, for anyone that finds themselves stranded in an area where Domino’s truly is the best pizza available you have my sympathies.
Second, what are the odds that the person who has only tried one of the dozen different pizza places around got it absolutely right the first time?
There is always the chance that the first impression was the right one despite the limited sample size. There is even room for personal opinion in terms of what is “better”. (Editor’s note: Chicago > NY, sorry!)
Regardless, there is no situation where having *MORE* information will weaken the validity of your stance on anything. Sure you might not think Suzy is as cute overall once you get off to college and see a few hundred other girls. Yeah, you might not like domino’s best after you try a few more shops. However, your *OVERALL* knowledge and accuracy on the given subject will have improved. Of course this is modified by personal preference and stubbornness, but that’s another rant for another time. 8P
If you think a fighter is a can even though you know nothing about them, look into who they’ve fought. Maybe your opinion will change, maybe it won’t.
If you think someone is a “lay n pray” fighter after only seeing two fights, then look at their fight history. Again, maybe additional information will change your opinion, and maybe it won’t. Either way your assertions won’t be less valid because you have more information.
If you think Edward No-TIN is a bad actor at least make sure you have the name right. Seriously, this guy didn’t even have an accent or anything, but soon as he went to say Norton’s name he sounded like pinocchio when he was turning into a donkey. NO-TIN, NO-TIN, HE-HAW, HE-HAW~!!! (there’s a “jackass” joke in there somewhere, re-read it and I’m sure you’ll find it)
What it really boils down to is holding people to a higher level of intellectual responsibility. The next time someone tries to tell you their “top 10 movies” ask them if they’ve seen 12 Angry Men (the original for the love of dog). Ask them if they’ve seen The Usual Suspects, Good Will Hunting, Leprechaun 2, or even The Land Before Time 18.
Obviously not all of those will make your personal list, but if you have a better idea of where their knowledge and experience lies then you will have a much better understanding of the scope of their statement. Personal taste always plays a part, but if you tend to not like sports movies and Jocky McJockerson is rambling on about how good a certain movie is, then you should probably take that into consideration.
Additionally, the next time someone tries to tell you a certain fighter is or isn’t “a can”, or “top 10″ or “the greatest of all time”, follow-up and ask them if they’ve seen a certain fight. Ask them if they know who Funaki is (do *YOU* know who Funaki is?), if they ever got to see any old Vitor fights, if they knew who Forrest Griffin was before TUF, etc.
Sadly, no amount of knowledge guarantees a person will be right or that their opinions will jive with yours. However, spending a few minutes getting additional information about someone’s knowledge can save you a lot of time and sanity in the long run.