The Hypomanic Edge
(John D. Gartner, Ph.D.)
This interesting work is built on John Gartner's premise that the United States is inventive and economically successful due to a particular genetic advantage.
According to the author, the United States is a frontier nation populated by immigrants, with a high number of its population bestowed with a unique type of personality trait known as hypomania.
The crux of this argument, as Gartner puts it, is that those people who had a propensity for adventure, often with the odds stacked against them, were those who would leave their comfort zone and arrive in new lands. Often, the end result of such risk taking was success, either in becoming free, acquiring land, starting businesses.
The descendents of hypomanic types would make bold moves in the fields of business, entertainment, science. Gartner defines hypomania as a personality type, more so than an illness, although it is noted in the book that it has a relation to bipolar disorder and mania.
Also, some of the negative aspects of hypomania are mentioned by the author. These include delusions of grandeur, risk taking without examining consequences, and arrogance.
The book starts off by describing a study that Gartner did, using some contemporary captains of industry, in order to arrive at his conclusions.
The rest of the book is organized around stories of some of the pioneering personalities in America.
This book makes a fine read for those interested in understanding what makes the United States, the world's dominant superpower, tick. It is great for understanding the American mindset, and the roots of key American contributions in science, business and the arts. From a psychological viewpoint, while we obviously haven't all inherited hypomania, we can emulate some of its traits in order to foster our own success!
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