What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures

Review

This book is an engrossing collection of long-form essays. Gladwell is a great writer and each self-contained essay is like a mini-book with its own unintuitive perspective, engaging anecdote, and sharp evidence. I found almost all of these essays kinda surprising and just the right length to completely cover the idea. As I review my notes, I am surprised at all the unique ideas I almost forget I got out of this book from debunking criminal profiling and job interviews to exploring solutions to homelessness and the Challenger disaster. It's books like this that can really make people think you're an avid reader. With each self-contained chapter, it's a great secondary book to read over a longer period of time alongside meatier lengthy ones. Some of the Many Key Ideas: - By simulating how often women were pregnant historically, birth control actually makes modern women's cycles more natural - The cost of homelessness follows the power-law with a few chronically homeless being a large amount of the cost. Generous policies targeted at this population like free housing can be the most cost-effective, yet the right doesn't like the special treatment for those who don't deserve it, and the left doesn't like it because it's not fair - There will be accidents in the normal functioning of complex systems