Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Crazy like me?

Christopher Columbus
John Winthrop & Roger Williams
Alexander Hamilton
Andrew Carnegie
David Selznick & Louis B. Mayer

What do they all have in common?

Well, they are men. All helped "shape" the United States in some fashion. Are all discussed in a new book. Might possibly be crazy. Were all successful. . . wait, what was that? Crazy?

Sure. The thesis of John D. Gartner's book The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (a Little) Craziness and (a Lot of) Success in America, argues that these men and, by extension, Americans in general are successful because they are a bit off.

Provocative idea; one that will get you press--(Click on the post title in order to read "Crazy Rich - Are Americans successful because they're nuts?" by Daniel Gross.)--but accurate or provable?

I don't know. But it makes for an interesting idea. Maybe I'll read the book sometime.

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