Yesterday evening was brain overload. First up was Malcolm Gladwell on the promotional tour for his new book Outliers. After a half an hour delay, Gladwell took to the stage to pimp a chapter of the book. The talk was a bit disappointing as I don't think I learnt anything that I won't read in the book. Gladwell was making a point about how cultural differences influence our actions without us knowing, but the example he used to illustrate the point highlighted the importance of good communication when trying to get things done.
I had to leave a bit early to cross the river to see Ferran Adrià, the head chef at El Bulli speak at South Bank, which was the more inspiring talk of the night. Interestingly, communication was the theme of his talk, but he was talking about creating a new language. I quote: 'If you can create a new letter, that is a revolution in itself'.
I've been reading a lot of Mark Earls this week and something that he wrote about independent thinking: '... independent thinking, as Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahnemann has suggested, is to humans as swimming is to cats: we can do it if we really have to, but ... So it is with behaviour: it is not that independently generated actions are impossible, just much rarer than we think' (quoted from Admap article which you can download here). I've always connected genuis with a capacity for independent thought, and that is the thing that always impresses me most about really smart people. It was quite amazing to be around Ferran Adria, who in terms of cuisine, has a massive capacity for independent thinking. He invented spuma or foam ferchrissakes. Actually, I should rephrase that as, 'he is guilty for the foam madness taking place in Michelin starred restaurants'. Aikens take note!
I have to say that the talk has turned me into even more of an Adria fan, despite being knocked back for a table 4 years in a row (just for the record, El Bulli would be the exception to my vegetarianism). I loved his unassuming appearance, the fact that he was much shorter than I expected and his complete and utter seriousness about food. He was talking about going to Manzies earlier in the day - which gained lots of titters from the well-heeled middle-class crowd - and how in pie, mash and liquor he could taste the history of the country. I can be flippant about everything I do, which means I probably will never be an outlier because there's nothing I take that seriously to devote the 10,000 hours. Bless the generalists who are there to applaud genius-like talent. Please can I have a table?
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