“Li’l” Gideon Charles Gleeful

Gravity Falls Inspired Profiles in Analytics

Gideon Gleeful was the original “bad guy” of Gravity Falls. If Bill Cipher was the Emperor, Gideon was was Darth Vader. He even had his own moment of redemption at the end of the series. Heck, for all we know he might be storing Darth’s helmet in that pompadour of his… though then he would be Kylo Ren… but we digress.

Gideon is a master strategist, a salesman, and a fake psychic. The former aspects we have covered with other Gravity Falls characters, the latter has been a recent topic for Greg Anderson — one of our contributors that you can read here. It will also be the inspiration for a very different path in this analytic profile.

Instrumentation & Observation

While Gideon does initially rely on a bit of magic (extra-dimensional mysticism, if you prefer), that is quickly thwarted. This leaves him to the use of good old fashion instrumentation and observation.

This may seem less impressive in a series where the bigger bad guy ends up being an All-Seeing Eye and Extra-Dimensional Demon, but it shouldn’t. Gideon does it the hard way and that is commendable and far more inspirational (unless you are an extra-dimensional demon yourself).

Gideon gives away pins and souvenirs from his show that are bugged with recorders and video cameras. He is an analytic genius, also a bit of a creeper. Just saying…

Gideon’s vast array of observational data combined with a small amount of behavioral science allows him to carry on his psychic facade with all the power and effect that he originally got through his magic amulet. Information is powerful. Instrumentation enables it better than nearly anything else. Analytics can only ever be as good as the data it is built on.

Technology

Gideon does not hesitate to embrace technology. His giant robot becomes part of a few different episodes, or at least parts of it. He is incredibly adept at adopting various technologies to get a competitive edge, whether that is replacing his amulet (a technology of a different sort) or combating the advantage that Dipper’s journals are providing him.

Analysts should take a lesson from this aspect of Gideon’s character. Agility with technology is almost always a benefit in analytic pursuits. Be aware of what is available. Experiment with different potential solutions. And like Gideon, don’t be overly concerned with minor set backs. Gideon managed to continue his “psychic” empire and even run a political campaign from his prison cell. A little failure was nothing more than a minor nuisance for him.

Thanks for reading. Can you identify this cipher?:

It’s creator will be the subject of our next profile.