RSS feedWhile finding a hyperlink to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point for my previous post, I read through some of the more recent (May 2004) reviews for the book on Amazon. Most were 5 stars, except one review of 1 star which said that Gladwell was simply stating the obvious, and that the book did not really shed any new light on what we already know. It’s interesting that as time goes by, newer generations benefit subconsciously from the research of their ancestors, without realising that there was a time when the idea was still unknown.
Apart from the fact that this reviewer is too stupid to give an objective and contextually fair review of the book, and should realise that at the time it was published, this was a defining work in the domain, it reminds me of what I call “the duh factor”.
The duh factor is when you explain to someone how something works, why something is the way it is, a new piece of research, or some other piece of insight and they just look at you and say “Oh duh. Didn’t you know that already?” The problem is that this may have been the first piece of research to actually prove this most obvious of insights, but the person you’re speaking to is too busy trying to “one up” you to notice.
As at today, in the U.S., G.W. Bush is more unpopular than he is popular. “Yeah, of course he is!” says the person you’re speaking to, before you mention that this is the first time official polling results show the actual percentage of unpopularity being above 50%.
The duh factor. I find the best reply to someone giving you the duh, is to just punch them in the face. Your mileage may vary. Oh duh!