Outliers, a very good seller at my bookstore, even 6 years after it was published….
Reading the introduction I now know why. It is all about the strange pieces in our world that defy the odds and show a little magic. Or something like that, it appeals to the part of us that needs to know we’re not all at risk of dying awful horrible deaths and that like some super hero we can defy the odds.
Who doesn’t want that?
But like the introduction shows us, maybe it’s not all the things we do to keep us some way or another, maybe it’s just feeling welcome, at home, a piece of a bigger picture,a cog in a clock. We just need to fit into the cracks, to be acknowledged and loved, to have a family in whatever form that may look like.
So what does this mean for journalism? My theory is that stories help us connect with the bigger picture.
That said, journalism maybe owes it to the world to tell magical stories and to build community around them, to seek out odd anonymous parts of our world and explain them as a part of what keeps us moving.
Maybe the story is not just about the Japanese tsunami, but about the beautiful ways people teamed up to aid one another.
Maybe it isn’t just about the election but the communities that voted or didn’t and why.
It’s about being nosey and asking questions, but also on wanting to know why a group or person is one way, less about judgment and more about compassionate understanding.
We could see it as community building through ideas, through a collective knowledge and conversation.
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