By Michael Kennedy
“What screws up doctors when they are trying to predict heart attacks is that they take too much information into account.”
This is a startling claim, but Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink” is full of similar accusations.
“When you write down your thoughts, your chances of having the flash of insight you need in order to come up with a solution are significantly impaired.”
He supposes the way to make some of the best decisions is to make these snap judgments as quickly as possible, without overanalyzing all available data.
In his third and latest book “Outliers,” Gladwell explains success, a topic with which he is intimately acquainted. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
Highly successful people, he supposes, are not self-made.
“No one…ever makes it alone,” he claims. The successful “are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways that others cannot. It makes a difference where and when we grew up.”
In “Outliers,” Gladwell supposes that there is a “threshold effect” with many qualifications, meaning that someone is either “good enough [or] not good enough.”
University of Louisville students should be relieved.
“A mature scientist with an adult IQ of 130 is as likely to win a Nobel Prize as is one whose IQ is 180,” he explains.
This could show why the 2002 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry graduated from Berea College.
Gladwell brings his unique perspective of the world to the University of Louisville Thursday, January 22nd and admission is free to students.
