The Roseto Mystery and Outliers

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The ideas presented in Outliers are surprisingly aligned with my own. It makes sense to me that a person’s success isn’t all about ability and his or her individual merit. In the past I have reflected upon my successes to find that I was not alone while achieving them. I have been given tremendous opportunities in life. I have always challenged my own definitions, and I like the spin Malcolm Gladwell puts on his.

“The Roseto Mystery” makes me want to go knock on my neighbor’s doors. I am not saying that I have the courage to do so, but I certainly would like to. I tend to be pessimistic when it comes to meeting new people. Wolf’s conclusions are helping me tip the scale the other way, seeing the glass half full. If people in Roseto truly lived longer, happier, healthier lives due to the involvement in their community, then I am tempted to summon the nerve to do the same.

Chapter 1 has familiarity in my life. In the 8th Grade my father moved us to the Midwest from Southern California; culture shock! Dad decided that I should play football at the Junior High, after all my cousin played on the team, and so did my father when he was in school. Most of the other players were a minimum of one year older than me. It is common practice for parents to hold their boys back a year to start school; this gives the boys a size advantage in sports. By the time adolescence rolls around, one year makes a big difference in a young man’s size. Also, I was born in November; not a prime year for sports league cut-offs. When it came playing football, I was severely outsized by my teammates. Due to my experience, I tend to agree with having sports league try-outs split into semesters or trimesters to allow the same opportunities available to more players.

Of course the logic in Chapter 2 is easy to agree with; I really agree with the ideas about opportunities the most. Chances at success are scarce. As the population grows chances become increasingly scarce.

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