The bestselling author of books like Blink and The Tipping Point thinks that people tend to view advantages and disadvantages in black-and-white terms, but that in reality a seeming disadvantage often turns out in your favor. It's an idea he explores in his recent book David and Goliath, which he thinks will help reassure geeks and nerds that being unpopular isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"The geek gives up acclaim and prestige, and all kinds of social benefits, in exchange for doing whatever the geek wants to do, for the freedom to pursue whatever course your imagination takes you on," Gladwell says in Episode 150 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "And this book wholeheartedly embraces that choice."

David and Goliath profiles figures like legendary cancer researcher Emil Freireich, whose medical breakthroughs are inextricably linked to his lone wolf personality.