WHAT THE DOG SAW

Gladwell, M. (2009) What the dog saw, New York: Little Brown and Company.

Gladwell is up to it again. This is a "best of" series from THE

NEW YORKER. The author is a journalist, one of the Top 100 individuals

by TIME and the top essayist as described by NEWSWEEK. As a journalist

he is the premier author at raising question and helping others think in

alternative categories. So academia doesn't much care for him as he

makes a ton of money doing his job and selling books. In other

words, he is a populizer.

He engages, seduces, leads in a direction we thought we were going

and then pulls a fast one.  You need to turn the page. You want him to

say more. Most know that he may oversimplify a bit to reach a lot of

people. Worst of all for some critics, he doesn't specifically give you an

the exact  paradigm. However, he does give you the tools to think that

going outside the box may be worthwhile.

WHAT THE DOG SAW is the title given to the series of stories. One of which is about Cesar Millan, "the dog whisperer." Millan is described in detail from the days in childhood when he was call the "dog boy." He immigrates to the states, uses his information that he personally picks up by  dwelling among dogs ( both verbally and non-verbally.) And then... you know the rest of the story.

WHAT THE DOG SAW is divided into 3 sections of a) people who are minor geniuses b) to predictions and related, finalized by c) personality and character.

We are now entering sacred ground. There is an intellectual mysticism that is just beyond linear rationality. You get the feeling that an epiphany is coming and then it doesn't come at the time you thought

it would.

This description is as if, one is going to be introduced to the grand valley bright light essayed in near death experiences. Nope. There is a fellow who created the vegamatic. Have we just dropped off the cliff? How about the guy who created the spray hair dye that fills that bald spot in the back of your head? Come on. You don't want to know about that do you? Well if you do and book sales suggests that a number of people do, let's look at some characters that are behind the drapes. Where is the mundane that sits on top of the toilet? Where does all the trappings around us come from? All of the everything around you had inventors. They made things simpler and easier so that you never thought about it. That is the first section.

Section two. We have all these theories and the fuzzy hard to understand measures that may make things worse. We thInk that we have a hold on knowing and measuring reality. Further, It is the time of Enron.

Their management strategy was that great things come from great  person who graduated from prestigious universities. Intellect conquers

experience and common knowledge. Great things will come from great

people. Thus, Enron should make a lot of money. Every year, the Internal Revenue Service looked over a wealth of data and made the

decision that the company wasn't making any money and would not be

taxed. For that annual year, the puzzle was solved. Enron was beginning

to run on empty.

As bankruptcy appears on the horizon, 6 or 7 executives along with an

elaborate textbook length analysis (econometric models and multiple regression analysis  included) clearly, no not clearly, but in a mystified but hard headed hard charging report indicate that Enron is fine. Oh?

Well, this is not a puzzle, but a mystery. Mysteries are hard to fix.

All those stats, beta weights, explained variances, analysis of variance

of independent variables were more of a fog than a search for clarity.

Someone was fixing the books. Enron goes under. Those hardnosed capitalists spoofed the spoofers. It was profound and over explained with too much information. Enron had to go into the toilet bowl.

We believed and we went with the flush.

Section 3. Personality and Character. Profilers appear to be like mentalists. A profiler tells the police who to look for and their characteristics. They are like mentalists who pretend to help you talk to the dead. What both groups do is called "rainbow." It sets the stage

by telling the audience or police people that this person is  really everything and nothing. It covers so much ground and is filled with enough so that when you do find the person they have been covered by the prediction.

In the midst of this, specific sounding details are noted. They(the person of interest) have a preference for buttons and religiosity. At the end, the police do their

work and the profiler finds something in his/her prediction that makes

it nearly correct.

When all three sections are added up you see a profound intermixture among and within the three. However, you come away thinking that maybe the whole thing is there to help start thinking about what you

decide is everyday reality. So that is what makes this worth the price of the book.

There is so much more and you may find the time to read the book. I did and found it a pleasure. This another bestseller for Malcolm Gladwell. It just makes sense. Or does it? It is up to you to judge.