Jonah Lehrer, Cheater
by Miki Saxon
Cheating is not a new topic here at MAPping Company Success.
Cheating has been and is currently an acceptable solution for addressing difficult situations by 95% of students, so what makes anyone think that the solution will change when that 95% is working/running our companies, media, governments and religious institutions in years to come?
In fact, we don’t have to wait years.
Consider Jonah Lehrer, author of “Imagine: How Creativity Works,” who, at the ripe old age of 31, blew up a potentially brilliant and lucrative career with that same 95% mentality.
Lehrer plagiarized content for his articles and invented quotes from Bob Dylan for his book.
He’s been fired from The New Yorker and his publisher has recalled Imagine, which has sold 200,000 copies since March.
Based on his apology, it’s hard to tell if Lehrer actually believes he really did something wrong or is apologizing because he got caught.
“The lies are over now; I understand the gravity of my position. I want to apologize to everyone I have let down, especially my editors and readers. I will do my best to correct the record and ensure that my misquotations and mistakes are fixed. I have resigned my position as staff writer at The New Yorker.”
Consider the first sentence; if you take it as stated it means that he didn’t see his actions as being very serious when he did them.
And, of course, he said he was sorry, which makes it all OK.
According to Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia, Lehrer combined a popular science niche and winning personality to become a 21st-century media star.
“Conjure me up a guy who talks science winningly, who shows you that everything is transparent, and does it in a self-help-y spirit. In our age, a guy who looks cute and wonky is better positioned to get away with this than others.”
And for all those who shake their heads and bemoan this fall from grace I would remind you that Lehrer’s cheating shouldn’t come as a surprise—after all, he is one of the 95%.
Flickr image credit: PopTech
