In the film Withnail & I, Danny, a drug-dealing hippie, played by Ralph Brown, proposes that hair is an aerial that connects us to the cosmos, and transmits signals directly into the brain. “This is the reason,” he said, “bald-headed men are uptight.”
Perhaps there is something to this, though we are by now long past the Sixties and long past a time when the movie Withnail & I could be easily found in a video store. I’m thinking, in this particular case about Malcolm Gladwell.
You see I was on the bus a couple days ago, trying to get through the last chapters of Outliers, when a woman sitting next to me began telling me how much she loved Gladwell’s books and his other book, Blink, in particular. I admitted I found the book interesting, and for some reason, she thought that made me, like she was, a fan, and began telling me about Gladwell’s special genius and….
And wait a minute. What, I asked, gave her any indications of his genius?
And she began to recite several passages and references in the book in my hand, attributing this to “amazing talent to see things from a different perspective….” or some such words, and….
And wait a minute. Those aren’t his ideas, I said. He’s quoting other people’s ideas, other people’s research, other people’s theories, and compiling them in a book.
And then… well the conversation kind of sputtered to an end by that point.
Don’t read me wrong, please. I enjoy his books on the most part, even though I find myself skipping through the more repetitious pages, and I do believe he brings a lot of value to our culture. But I have yet to find anything original in his works, that did not come from some other person, quoted by him. If Gladwell is a brilliant thinker, then Bartlett was a brilliant writer.
I bring this up, only because I know this woman is not alone. It seems any review I read of his work, or any reference I find about him in the media, again, seems to take it for granted that he is a genius, connected to the cosmos in some way that escapes the rest of us, in words that one would normally associate with the likes of Albert Einstein. Einstein was a genius and he also had a very bad haircut and…
Perhaps Malcolm Gladwell is a genius. I wouldn’t know, I have never spoken to the man. But if he is a genius at anything, I would have to say he excels in marketing. Somehow his name, and his crazy haircut, have tapped into our collective subconsciousness and delivered to us a new form of genius: the compiler of information is now the icon of original thought.
Someone who attended a reading recently told me I seemed to him to be “a Canadian Hemingway”. Of course I laughed at that, as would most of you, I know. But this has gotten to thinking that maybe I should grow out my beard.
And take up boxing. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
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If he has a genius, it is bringing together all those theories together to form strong arguments that most of us seem to miss, and then present them in a way that all of us can relate to. That is his genius – not the genius of an Einstein, but a certain kind of genius indeed – for example, while we may know that culture matters, and while many of us may have studied hofstede’s dimensions, we didn’t know of the important relevance they have on air safety. yes, we all know that the chinese are successful because they work hard, and we all know that practice makes perfect. but a lot of us didn’t know where the chinese get their ingrained habit of hard work from. if gladwell has a genius, it is helping us understand things that we only superficially understand, which is worse than total ignorance. it’s like someone who knows only that many terrorists claim to be muslim concluding that all muslims are terrorists – for a better understanding, we need more knowledge, and that’s what gladwell gave me when i read outliers.
he isn’t a genius in the manner of the IQ giants described in his book. but he is an excellent writer and compiler of information who has produced a book of real value, which is commendable, i think you will agree.
Nabeel,
Yes, I do agree with you for the most part.
It was not actually Mr. Gladwell I was thinking of. It was the icon that he has become (at least in some circles) and questioning how someone who reports information could be viewed as the source. Someone brought to my attention recently that it may be due to all those who have heard of his books, skimmed through them, but did not actually read them. However, to be honest, I cannot remember the names of anyone mentioned in his book, but the ideas, facts and theories do cling to me and are associated in my mind to him.
Truthfully, I do find his books a little drawn-out, even for their compact size.
WONDERFUL [in all caps!]
Love the read David.
Withnail&I is one of my favorite films. Bravo mate.
“And then… well the conversation kind of sputtered to an end by that point.”
Hilarious. So you didn’t jump on the bandwagon and go along for her blindfolded ride? Terrific. Or tragic. Is going against the heard a good idea? Don’t the cows who stray all get slaughtered first?
Clearly the hairdo of Einstein and Twain signify the underlying brain activity and that activity was genius. But Nikola Tesla had a very tidy coif… hmmm… This is getting complicated.
“Perhaps Malcolm Gladwell is a genius.”
Since I have yet to read his work and don’t want to appear out of touch, allow me to say, “I love his work, he is amazing. Especially the cool illustrations of the purple horse and all that. Brilliant.” And as soon I discover the lack of validity to my statement I’ll come back and recant.
“a Canadian Hemingway”
*smile* -Hemingway would approve of you going the rugged mile to rough out a beard and box the bulls in Spain. I’d try it if I was you.
Yes, Tesla’s coils were superb, I agree. But was I remiss in not providing more data for this discussion? That would be problematic as most geniuses I am familiar with have some kind of hair style, lack of style, or a scalp upon which a hair stylist could have done – well something! – if they had only arrived earlier.
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