Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting man. He believes that not everything is as it seems to be. He carefully analyzes everything in his life. In all three of Gladwell's Ted Talks, there was an unexpected twist. The first Ted Talk was about a man named Howard who had a brilliant idea, but no one would listen. He ended up making a spaghetti company millions of dollars. In the second Ted Talk, Norden's Bomb Device was made for good purposes. It was supposed to lower the rate of random misfires and deaths due to an outdated targeting system, but it ended up being used to mass murder thousands of Japanese citizens with a nuclear bomb. The third Ted Talk was about the story of David and Goliath. Goliath seems to be a huge, menacing warrior while in reality he was actually visually impaired. David seemed to be the underdog in the situation against Goliath but he managed to win through his skill and intelligence.
The "Warren Harding Error" is about a man named Warren Harding who came into power based solely on his handsome appearance and professional demeanor. United States citizens fell in love with him and elected him based mostly on his physical attributes. He turned out to be one of the worst presidents in American history. Gladwell's takeaway message is do not judge a book by its cover; someone or something that may seem foolish can actually shine like gold when given the chance.
Students in Class
An example of another topic worth considering is the perplexing question of why do certain students sit at the front and back of the classroom on the first day of school? There are many reasons for why students sit where they do. There are three types of students: the shy, the social, and the studious. The shy and social children tend to sit at the back of the classroom on the first day. This could be due to the shy students not wanting to socialize with the new teacher. The social kids sit in the back of the room because they think they can get away with talking and eating without the teacher's knowledge. The studious students tend to sit towards the front of the room to get to know the teacher and to see how they will run their class in the future.
