In his book “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes a lot about luck by illustrating the importance of birthdays for Hockey players, by comparing the success of geniuses with super high intelligence, and by showing how successful people got opportunities and support because of their luck. At a glance, every reader can find out luck plays a crucial role in success, but does Gladwell wants us to believe luck is all that matters? Although he emphasizes a lot about luck in his book, I don’t think he believes that successful people are just lucky because every successful people he introduces in his book are not just lucky in their lives, but are great hard workers and risk takers. Luck is not the only one that correlates to success. In his book, …show more content…
In Outliers, Gladwell illustrates the life of a lawyer named Joe Flom, and shows three reasons why he became one of the most successful lawyers. One of them was “The importance of being Jewish” (121-122). Gladwell emphasizes that Flom couldn’t work at big firms because he was Jewish, and had to handle proxy wars which big firms didn’t do at that time, but he got to the top because he was one of the few lawyers who were proficient at proxy wars when it became popular (125-129). My evidence’s point is that a disadvantage is turned into an advantage as time passes. Joe Flom wasn’t lucky because he is Jewish and couldn’t work at big firms, but at the same time, he was lucky because he is Jewish and had a chance to train himself in proxy wars. If Joe Flom got discouraged by his disadvantages in his career, he wouldn’t become a successful lawyer. In other words, my evidence believes that individuals can turn their unluckiness into luckiness, or luckiness to unluckiness depending on their actions. With racial discriminations like that at that time, we can assume that there would be many Jewish lawyers who we can say had the same luck as Joe Flom got discouraged, or many other individuals who didn’t choose that profession because they knew they would be discriminated against, and ended up in other careers. Ultimately, my evidence shows that Joe Flom not only turned his unluckiness into luckiness, but he elevated
In order to prove the existence of purposeful discrimination, McCleskey must first demonstrate that he belonged to a group “that is a recognizable, distinct class, singled out for different treatment” (McCleskey v. Kemp 318). Here, McCleskey relied on the Baldus study,...
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that there is no such thing as a self-made man, and that success is only the result of a person’s circumstances. However, throughout the novel Gladwell points out that your circumstances and opportunities only help you become successful if you are willing to take advantage of them and work hard. From a twelve year old living in the Bronx, to those who were born at just the right time to become millionaires, one thing is the same throughout; these people because successful because they seized the opportunities they were given. The advantages and opportunities that came from their circumstances would not be important if they had not grasped them. Every successful man is self made, because he has seized the
As stated before Malcolm Gladwell presents a calm tone that doesn’t seem to push his argument but at the same time his argument is semi-flawed. He proves that there can be trends and patterns that can be correlated to success. He successfully showed this by stating the success stories of Bill Gates, the beatles and the soon to be successful Choir. Even though here and there he makes a couple of assumptions like the children in the academy his thesis is solid. (where? make an example) Malcolm Gladwell makes a lasting effect on how you view life, if patterns can be shown in overall success what else can their be patterns to. This piece really makes you think hard about things you might never have considered before and just accepted.
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.
There’s optimism in all literature known to man if not optimism then it would be pessimism. They are the basis of any literature work. It’s found in many books and poems today. In the novel Fahrenheit451 by Ray Bradbury evaluates the theme of optimism. The author Ray Bradbury writes about a guy named Montag who is in a society where firemen burn houses instead of putting fires out. Montag seeks out the good in the books which are banned in this dystopian society where knowledge is forbidden to rise from society. He and other literature seekers pave the way for him to learn knowledge and the freedom of thinking which is against the law in this society. Montag falls in love with books so much that he tries to find someone who can teach him about the books and how important they are to life. The world would fall apart without knowledge no one would have a clue on what to do or how to eat since they don’t have that knowledge at hand. Optimism can also be found in the William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus”, Freedom to Breathe” by Alexander Solzheitsynand and in the speech “The Nobel acceptance by Elie Wiesel.
Many people say that their luck has brought them to where they are right now, but is that REALLY the case? Probably not. To be honest, they’re probably trying to be humble. Although luck takes a big part in success
The practice of delaying a child’s enrollment in kindergarten until age 6 instead of the standard enrollment age of 5 is known as pre-primary academic redshirting. Originally the practice of holding back a child for a year from entering kindergarten in order to provide them an athletic advantage due to advanced physical maturity, the practice of redshirting has developed an emphasis on academic maturity, as redshirting allows students to enter kindergarten having an advantage over their younger and less mature peers in terms of academic preparedness. Redshirting for academic purposes has been on the rise in American schools, as nearly 17% of children in 2008 were admitted to kindergarten at age 6, whereas only 9% of children were admitted to kindergarten at age 6 back in 1993. The sudden increase in redshirting creates significant age and ability gaps in kindergarten classes, providing redshirted children with a better chance of academic success than their younger peers due to more maturity. However, redshirting is not
...referring to the commentary about American Jews by Dr. Gerhard Falk. Explaining the case in which certain races or ethnic groups dominate within diverse fields is not just an American phenomenon, he cites Professor Walter Williams, who wrote about the privileges of Chinese minority in Malaysia. He also mentions the talk-show host Michael Savage who, after he earned his Ph.D., had trouble finding a job in his chosen field, and was told in so many words that "white men need not apply."
The popular saying “practice makes perfect” has been used for many years encouraging younger generations to strive for success in whatever area they wish to excel in. Success is something everybody in society strides for but some do not know how it is achieved. However, there are many people throughout history who are known for achieving success in many areas. Malcolm Gladwell, a best selling author and speaker, identifies these people as being outliers. Gladwell identifies the word “outlier” in his story Outliers as “a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience.” Although Malcolm Gladwell does not establish credibility for himself in his novel, his targeted audience of a younger inexperienced generation feel the need to be informed by his detailed theories about becoming successful and eventually becoming an outlier. Although the reality of becoming successful can depend on instances one can not control, Gladwell tells his readers there is a great portion they can control through his theory, the 10,000 hour rule. He does this by using well presented logical persuasive appeals and interesting rhetorical devices such as: onomatopeias, exposition, and argumentation.
Malcolm Gladwell’s “Troublemakers” is an article in which he explores the way societies make generalizations. Malcolm explains how Ontario has banned pit bulls due to a boy being attacked and people viewing that one example to be enough to distinguish all pit bulls as vicious and bloodthirsty. He goes on to employ that all dogs even resembling pit bulls or that have some pit bull mixed into them have been banned as well, because anything that looks like a pit bull has now been deemed dangerous for the people in that society. Not only does Malcolm point out other ways societies generalize people, like racial profiling a terrorist, but he distinguishes how steps could have been taken to eliminate the threat of the pit bull but it seemed to just
Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers is an extremely informative read about success and the different aspects that attribute to it. Gladwell is able to use many studies and sources that back up his theories of how success is achieved. Although he is biased towards his theories, the only real argument that can be made in opposition to his theories would be a debate over exceptions to the 10,000 Hour Rule. Outliers ultimately has a positive effect on the audience by making them more aware of their own chances at success and how if they may be lacking in one area (education, opportunity, creativity) all hope is not lost. Gladwell’s piece is essentially timeless and will be able to be applied to future generations because he used examples from a few different eras that still make sense to today.
Other than how this book personally encouraged me and discouraged me, it was eye opening to see such a coincidence of birthdates among all-star hockey players and how Bill Gates just happened to be born in the wake of computer technology. It is also very shocking to see the racial demographics behind plane crashes and the relationship between math, rice, and Asian people. I am glad that I was able to read this book because despite the limits it places on success, it provides a better understanding of the possible reasons why some people become outliers while other remain average.
If people work hard, focus, and are disciplined, they will succeed in the future. This has become a universal idea taught by parents, teachers, and peers. People have passed down this idea to the younger generations and they chose to live by this moral that makes sense. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell debunks the universal idea that working hard will allow people to play hard and get further in life. Gladwell eliminates the traditional ideas of success by showing that opportunities, family background, and being born at the “right” time are actually what lead to success.
In Chapter 8 and 9 of Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell exams some of the ways that Asian and American students learn math, arguing that some of the principles in the US education system should be reconsidered. I generally agree with Gladwell’s point of view. I believe in two ways, students ' principal spirit and the length of students’ studying, the US education system leaves much to be desired, though an overhaul is in progress.
An extensive use of Goldratt's thinking process is applied in the various businesses as part of the problem solving. "It's not luck" emphasizes the importance of using the thinking processes in business and in your personal life. The thinking processes refer to a logical, graphical, general and practical method of problem solving methodology and basically comprised of 3 steps. These steps as described by Goldratt are: