Just look at movies like 300, Remember the Titans, and Rocky. These are all stories of courage, stories that have an undercurrent of vitality coursing through the narrative. When the underdog wins, it's inspiring. Suddenly, the world is open to possibilities. That gym you've been avoiding? Go run five miles! That girl you've been too shy to talk to? Ask for her number! You can do it!
My feelings on Malcolm Gladwell are mixed. A few of his books were thought-provoking (see my Book Recommendations) and a few fell flat. He writes with ease and conviction, but some of his theories leave me feeling skeptical, especially his tendency to put the incalculable into a statistic. If there was one chapter I hated in Outliers, it was when Gladwell wrote that Asians have a "built-in advantage" in mathematics. Perpetrating stereotypes Western people have of Asians never sits well with me. If I have to hear one more person tell me, "Yah, I read in a book once that the you Asians are really good at math because you don't learn English first" then I may have to burn my copy of Outliers.
What I do like about Gladwell is that he explains concepts that most people take for granted. In The Tipping Point, he tries to explain why something can become popular overnight. Sure, some of it is obvious (everyone has that charismatic friend that knows everyone; how useful is she when you're looking for a place to crash?) but it's nice to have a book dedicated to decoding phenomena we see in every day life.
My gripe about David and Goliath is that Gladwell once again takes the immeasurable and distorts it to fit his own agenda. For example, Gladwell interprets Goliath's "come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field" (1 Samuel 17:44) to mean, "I need you to come to me because I cannot locate you otherwise." One of Gladwell's main points for David's surefire victory is that Goliath had vision problems from acromegaly. And his evidence for this is "many medical experts." He's vague, maybe because the story of David and Goliath took place thousands of years ago so there's no statistic to give.
As someone who believes the Bible is true, I don't have a problem with Gladwell using the Bible or referencing it; he can interpret it however he wants. However, Gladwell leaves out the biggest character in the story of David and Goliath-- God. From a literary standpoint, God's role throughout the Bible is complex and varied. Without God, the Bible would be a completely different story. In dissecting a Biblical story without God, Gladwell weakens his argument and fails to address God's role in the story.
There is so much more that can be said, but hopefully this post got you thinking.
You can purchase the book here.
Keep thinking,
Candy
As someone who believes the Bible is true, I don't have a problem with Gladwell using the Bible or referencing it; he can interpret it however he wants. However, Gladwell leaves out the biggest character in the story of David and Goliath-- God. From a literary standpoint, God's role throughout the Bible is complex and varied. Without God, the Bible would be a completely different story. In dissecting a Biblical story without God, Gladwell weakens his argument and fails to address God's role in the story.
There is so much more that can be said, but hopefully this post got you thinking.
You can purchase the book here.
Keep thinking,
Candy
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