New York Time’s writer Rachel Donadio recently discovered what makes author Malcolm Gladwell so darn special. (The Gladwell Effect) He is, according to Donadio, “brilliantly attuned to every level of today's conversation.†Considering the cacophony of voices participating in “today’s conversation,†this is no small feat. Gladwell seems to have gone Einstein one better by not just defining, but entirely transcending the boundaries of space and time.
Unlike Donadio, Gladwell attributes the success of his books not to his dazzling intellect, but his inherent optimism. Good vibes sell, according to the author-cum-corporate guru. Apropos of nothing, Gladwell goes on to explain that he doesn’t "believe in character. [He] believes in the effect of the immediate impact of environment and situation on people's behavior."
Okay, wait just a second. Did he just say there’s no such thing as human nature?
Perhaps, I’m just too dense to grasp the nuance of his argument, but it seems to me that Mr. Gladwell has taken his famed "counterintuitive" approach to the next level, opting to entirely disregard science and simple common sense.
So, he’s a little eccentric, you say. Everyone’s entitled to their beliefs. But this outlandish proclamation is less benign than it seems. As science writer Steven Pinker says in his book Blank Slate: “The refusal to acknowledge human nature . . . distorts our science and scholarship, our public discourse, and our day-to-day lives.†(Preface, x)
The idea that we’re all blank canvases inevitably leads to a belief in the perfectibility of human nature. And this belief can quickly morph into a pathological preoccupation with self-improvement. Case in point: America. Americans are forever embarking on self-improvement campaigns. We have workout regimens, nutritional regimens, memory and IQ-enhancement regimens. We race to be the first in line for life coaching, psychotherapy, self-help, and new-age religion. We’re always on the look out for the cure-all--the ultimate prescription that will finally enable us to defeat genetics.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with striving for excellence. But when the quest for excellence hinges on a denial of human nature, it becomes unhealthy. In our zeal for self-improvement, we seem to have forgotten the importance of acknowledging our limitations--an exercise that can be surprisingly liberating.
Evolutionary psychologists and other mainstream scientists have long accepted the notion that the human character is the product of genetic predisposition and environment. The relative importance of nature vs. nurture remains a point of contention, but I’ve yet to hear one reputable scientist assert that we are purely the product of our environments. Gladwell’s vision of human nature seems to be based on little more than wishful thinking.
The allure of the blank slate theory is undeniable. But it’s worth remembering that when taken to its logical conclusion, this belief has led to “massive social engineering projects [responsible] for some of the greatest atrocities in history.†(Pinker, xi)
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Gladwell's no Einstein, but it's interesting to note how much he's starting to look like him.
