How nothing is the way it seems to be

Malcom Gladwell: Author of Ouliers, Blink, and many other novels

The author Malcom Gladwell makes his living by seeing stories and basic ideals in a different light. TED had him come in for a few presentations involving Pasta Sauce, Norden Bombsight, and most interesting of all, David and Goliath. In each of the previously mentioned presentation, Gladwell tells the story we all know, for example David killing Goliath is unexpected due to their sizes and experience. Gladwell takes these stories and exposes their fundamental roots, Goliath was in fact the "underdog" due to a probable tumor in his pituitary gland, effecting his vision. Since this happened thousands of years ago it cannot be proven that Goliath was suffering from a brain tumor, he could be like Andre the Giant or "The Mountain that Rides" from A Game of Thrones.  Most of the statements Gladwell makes can be considered conjecture but his brings up great points of thinking for yourself and questioning common "knowledge".

One topic that always bothered me personally was the Story of "The Boy who cried wolf". If the boy was truly close enough for the people to hear him cry, shouldn't they also be able to see him. Sheep tend to be herded into large grassy plains so they can roam and graze as needed, therefore the herd should be in view of the village. Herding animals and manning a farm takes more than just one child, and when so much depends on sheep and their wool you would expect farmhand there to sheer, weave, and haul feed, so where are they when the wolf attacks? We tend to think of stories as just that, stories, but when you appeal; to it and give it critical thought, they expose themselves to be much greater, whether allegorically or just how violent and horrible the text is.