I wouldn't let that column turn you away from Gladwell's work. He's a thought provoking author that covers relevant issues with a captivating style. As the writer of this column points out, it shouldn't be taken as scientific research, but more as philosophy with scientific undertones.
He tells compelling stories with intoxicating ideas, but little that's actionable or testable. _Blink_ basically claimed that our intuitive and first decisions are made for real reasons, and often have merit of their own. No surprise, and it's certainly flattering to hear, but useless without suggestions on when to use a quick judgement versus when to take a more considered approach. Some of my instincts are good. Sometimes my first impression is right. Not exactly news, but as presented it implicitly validates snap judgement.
I’ve never been a fan, but me let explain. I read the long Tipping Point article by Gladwell that originally appeared in the New Yorker in 1996 and found it rather obvious for anyone with an engineering or math degree. It seemed to be a simple article making much ado about nonlinear functions.
I must have been wrong. Malcom Gladwell’s books have been extremely popular, introducing observations, well known to specialists, to much wider audiences. The books are not really written for me; they are written for the educated and appreciative readers that just happened to get through life without studying nonlinear functions, for example. He makes the dry details interesting.
What I need are books on the countless subjects I don’t understand that are written as well as Gladwell’s. I need books about subjects like the history of philosophy or the influence of Miles Davis on jazz that are written for a non-specialist like me.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 21.9 ms ] threadI must have been wrong. Malcom Gladwell’s books have been extremely popular, introducing observations, well known to specialists, to much wider audiences. The books are not really written for me; they are written for the educated and appreciative readers that just happened to get through life without studying nonlinear functions, for example. He makes the dry details interesting.
What I need are books on the countless subjects I don’t understand that are written as well as Gladwell’s. I need books about subjects like the history of philosophy or the influence of Miles Davis on jazz that are written for a non-specialist like me.