.
Dear Malcolm
First of all, I think your hair rocks (and this would be the first time I make comment on anyone’s hair). And the rest of my points I will try to present as tidy as I can (and as tidy as I can being the operative words).
I’ve read three of your books and I’m in the middle of your fourth. I’ve seen you on TED delivering your ‘spaghetti sauce’ story you wrote for Tipping Point. I’ve read the short interview TIME had with you. It is defying reflexes not to like you.
A friend of mine has a very strong opinion on popular books like yours. He thinks they are, half-strickly speaking, unscientific (he has a mind of a scientist and in personal pursuit of being one), which means they won’t make his reading list. I’m not smart enough to decide the validity of his assessment, nor I am smart enough to be sure whether your pieces are, in fact, scientific in nature or not. I consider myself a snob man --that to some extent I base my deeds on whether or not they make sense (when they don’t, I withdraw). To his face especially, I figure I would hesitate to announce my admiration toward you. But it turned out that I don’t. It’s too difficult to mask the pleasant thoughts I had when reading your books. So announce to him my admiration toward you I did (and I felt brave).
Maybe my friend is right. After all you aren’t, indeed, an official scientist (though I suspect you have a mind like one, and more, instead merely having one that of a story teller’s as my friend pointed out to me). It isn’t your science status that amazes me. One, I think it is your agility to jump from one viewpoint to another and to another and to another on phenomenons under your investigations. Two, it is that each of the viewpoints you are taking are ones of scientific; and that your intense ability to familiar yourself with them and zoom in on some relevant theories (at least relevant to my limited opinion) are perfect, justified calls for envy. Three, it is the grace of how you discover that several seemingly separate events are actually interellated through the available multiple sciences you weave. Four, it is the shocking fact that you can render everything difficult easy.
The goal of science is the pursuit of truth. Though what you wrote may skid off truth-wise as some said, your ability to always take a novel perspective on everything is what I think missing out from most scientists (at least most scientists I know). When TIME asked your methods of approach on your stories, you answered:
Your clear and simple answer dwarfed my know-it-all comments I have on you (ya iya laaaah).
Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading your next adventure. Again, I think your hair rocks.
Sincerely yours,
adih.
PS: Like you, and many scientists and/or authors I am fond of, my father is an idea enthusiast. When he speaks of a subject, he speaks with passion. He is constantly eager to make sense of every idea he encounters, thus old ideas never go obsolete, while new ideas automatically excite him. And I was, as his son, infected. Actually, there aren’t many staggering similarities between you and him. It’s just that today is his birthday, and I find it a good excuse to mention him.
Dear Malcolm
First of all, I think your hair rocks (and this would be the first time I make comment on anyone’s hair). And the rest of my points I will try to present as tidy as I can (and as tidy as I can being the operative words).
I’ve read three of your books and I’m in the middle of your fourth. I’ve seen you on TED delivering your ‘spaghetti sauce’ story you wrote for Tipping Point. I’ve read the short interview TIME had with you. It is defying reflexes not to like you.
A friend of mine has a very strong opinion on popular books like yours. He thinks they are, half-strickly speaking, unscientific (he has a mind of a scientist and in personal pursuit of being one), which means they won’t make his reading list. I’m not smart enough to decide the validity of his assessment, nor I am smart enough to be sure whether your pieces are, in fact, scientific in nature or not. I consider myself a snob man --that to some extent I base my deeds on whether or not they make sense (when they don’t, I withdraw). To his face especially, I figure I would hesitate to announce my admiration toward you. But it turned out that I don’t. It’s too difficult to mask the pleasant thoughts I had when reading your books. So announce to him my admiration toward you I did (and I felt brave).
Maybe my friend is right. After all you aren’t, indeed, an official scientist (though I suspect you have a mind like one, and more, instead merely having one that of a story teller’s as my friend pointed out to me). It isn’t your science status that amazes me. One, I think it is your agility to jump from one viewpoint to another and to another and to another on phenomenons under your investigations. Two, it is that each of the viewpoints you are taking are ones of scientific; and that your intense ability to familiar yourself with them and zoom in on some relevant theories (at least relevant to my limited opinion) are perfect, justified calls for envy. Three, it is the grace of how you discover that several seemingly separate events are actually interellated through the available multiple sciences you weave. Four, it is the shocking fact that you can render everything difficult easy.
The goal of science is the pursuit of truth. Though what you wrote may skid off truth-wise as some said, your ability to always take a novel perspective on everything is what I think missing out from most scientists (at least most scientists I know). When TIME asked your methods of approach on your stories, you answered:
“I'm interested in placing things in a larger context and in making lateral connections. A lot of my process is informed by the notion that two mildly good stories put together sometimes equal one really good story.”
Your clear and simple answer dwarfed my know-it-all comments I have on you (ya iya laaaah).
Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading your next adventure. Again, I think your hair rocks.
Sincerely yours,
adih.
PS: Like you, and many scientists and/or authors I am fond of, my father is an idea enthusiast. When he speaks of a subject, he speaks with passion. He is constantly eager to make sense of every idea he encounters, thus old ideas never go obsolete, while new ideas automatically excite him. And I was, as his son, infected. Actually, there aren’t many staggering similarities between you and him. It’s just that today is his birthday, and I find it a good excuse to mention him.
Hai Mas Adih, suratnya bagus sekali. Aku juga penggemar Gladwell, teori dan tulisannya memang menarik sekali. Aku juga suka tulisan Mas Adih, terus menulis ya Mas... =)
ReplyDeleteNB. Sebagai perkenalan, Aku dulu mahasiswa Mas Adih di psikologi Atma Jaya, salam kenal (lagi!) =)