I think whenever something is sciency / fancy enough to not be totally accessible, but not fancy enough to be inaccessible to idiots, you are going to have backlash by those who think it is too basic. I know you can give me 10,000 reasons why Gladwell is wrong or stupid, but I don't really care.

I truly believe a lot of people simply hate him because it makes them feel smarter and above those who do like him. The reality is, reading Gladwell makes you feel smart and like you are learning something and seeing the world slightly differently. But wait! If insomniasexx the idiot feels smart reading Gladwell, then it must not be that smart. Shoot. I hate Gladwell because I'm smarter than that!

That said... I do think that there are probably some legitimate reasons to not like Gladwell. I also do not think all Gladwell haters fall into this category. Some people truly are educated and we'll researched and see fundamental flaws with his work. That's fine. But in general... Especially in random threads on the Internet, it's cool to not like Gladwell because it means you will be on the "smart" side when the Gladwell haters and "you're am idiot for reading Gladwell' appear.