Outliers Chapters 2 and 4 Precis Malcolm Gladwell starts chapter 2 with the story of computer scientist Bill Joy. In 1971 the University of Michigan opened one of the world's most advanced computer centers. Joy was one of the most famous people to ever walk through that university. Gladwell talks about Joys come up and how he made a name for himself and how he was associated with rewriting java and UNIX. Gladwell then ties everything up and mentioning that Joy succeeded in a brave new world where heritage, connections, and status didn’t matter. He did everything based on his talent and he succeeded because he was one of the best at what he did. Gladwell then brings up that when we are born we have “innate talent”. He questions the reading …show more content…
Langan was able to get a full scholarship to Reed University. He had a hard time adjusting to his new life since he grew up very poor , he had a hard time talking to others and a hard time speaking in class. He later then lost his scholarship due to his mother not filling out his paperwork. He then turned to Montana State University and in other tragic events Langan wasn’t able to get to his classes since his had broken down and he asked to be transferred to a different class so that he could avoid having an absence. His teacher was dismissive, as was the administration, and didn’t accept his request. Gladwell then brings up the question what would have happened if Langan spoke up and tried to stand up for his application. Gladwell then compares Langan to Robert Oppenheimer “When Langan told me his life story, I couldn't help thinking of the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who famously headed the American effort to develop the nuclear bomb during World War II.” Gladwell then explains that Robert Oppenheimer had successful parents and Langan did not and then ask the question if you are set up for success , being taught how to be successful , you will end up successful. The whole chapter is big question on what if Chris Langan had better parents or a better life could he have been the most influential and smartest person at that
Throughout the book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell focuses on using the rhetorical technique of pathos to aid his readers in understanding the formula for success. In one particular part of the book, Gladwell uses experiences and human problems as examples to support his idea that plane crashes and ethnicty are related and the greater idea that success is based on opportunity.
Gladwell narrates along biographical sections in the chapter and leads you through the lives of his “successful” subjects. He explains a cause of success and the effect it has on the outliers and their lives. He effectively asks rhetorical questions to spark readers’ interest in a phenomenon and then he explains the phenomenon using r...
Through information and literature, individuals will be competent to comprehend quickly and intelligently under any circumstances. The following character known as Beatty demonstrates the traits of intelligence by using small amounts of information to plan malicious ideas against Montag and using his position as captain to order around his mechanical hound to make Montag’s life a living hell. “... Give a man a few lines of verse and he thinks he’s the Lord of all Creation. You think you can walk on water with your books. Well, the world can get by just fine without them. Look where they got you, in slime up to your lip. If I stir the slime with my little finger, you’ll drown!” ( Bradbury ) page 118. This quote reflects the traits of intelligence
While inherent/innate skills may be beneficial, it is the other stuff that really leads to success. Basically, Gladwell has taken a stereotype, which is defined by Merrimack-Webster as, “a widely held but fixed or oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing,” and helped perpetuate it, in my opinion. The common stereotype that Asians are good at math is a widespread belief in America. And Gladwell's oversimplification and, in my opinion, brilliant way of correlating factors has just strengthened the stereotype that already exists, whether he meant to or not. So, as much as I admire his ability to tidily wrap up an argument in a way that makes me tend to think, “Wow, that makes complete sense,” Gladwell has unmistakably joined the “I perpetuate stereotypes club” by writing this chapter. The thing is that stereotyping doesn’t always have to hold a negative connotation. I think that people sometimes mix-up what a stereotype is and what an ethnic slurs (ethnophaulisms)
These children do not have to go through everything they parents went through to be successful. They do not know the meaning of working hard, setting goals and achieve those goals. So these kids end up losing their goals and sense of self-worth, Gladwell says.
In the 1950 novel Fahrenheit 451, AUTHOR Ray Bradbury presents the now familiar images of mind controlING worlds. People now live in a world where they are blinded from the truth of the present and the past. The novel is set in the, perhaps near, future where the world is AT war, and firemen set fires instead of putting them out. Books and written knowledge ARE banned from the people, and it is the firemen's job to burn books. Firemen are the policemen of THE FUTURE. Some people have rebelled by hiding books, but have not been very successful. Most people have conformed to THE FUTURE world. Guy Montag, a fireman, is a part of the majority who have conformed. BUT throughout the novel Montag goes through a transformation, where he changes from a Conformist to a Revolutionary.
Gladwell gives differing definitions of intelligence. Yet his definition of success is singular—"worldly" success in terms of wealth, power, and fame. Are there also differing definitions of success that Gladwell doesn't consider? If so, what are they, and what does it take to achieve those versions of success? What is your definition of success, and how does it compare to Gladwell’s? Has your definition of success changed at all?
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
Many years later, after the Termites were grown and deep into their careers, it was clear that his hypothesis had failed in some areas. They had good jobs such as court justices and court judges, but none did anything outstanding. Although they were leaps and bounds ahead of everyone in knowledge, they lacked the creativity that others have, which constricted their abilities to become who Terman thought they would be. Gladwell stated, “The majority had careers that could only be considered ordinary, and a surprising number ended up with careers that even Terman considered failures.” You can see that despite the fact that the Termites were exceptionally intelligent, they lacked the creative side of thinking which prohibited the highest levels of success. Previous successes in their lives did not guarantee success later in life. This philosophy also applies to me, a student in ACTION. My previous successes throughout my highschool years are not the only factors that will determine my success at BGSU. Other factors that will effect my success include; motivation, work ethics, and the people I decide to surround myself with. Motivation is a key factor in a person’s level of success. If you are determined and certain in the path you are heading for, in my case
In a very inspiring book by Malcolm Gladwell entitled “David and Goliath”, the author expresses many different stories involving various situation. In the second and third chapter of this book, I found out that the stories are quite difficult to understand because I cannot see the relevance of the stories to each other. At first, all of the stories seem to be unrelated to each other because the storyline of the stories is totally different. How can a story about raising children in a wealthy surrounding, ancient artists and enrolling in a prestigious university can be related? It will be quite difficult to relate all these stories at the beginning. So, the process of understanding the message or the main idea implied by the author is very difficult.
“People don't rise from nothing....It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't”(Gladwell 18).
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
What would happen if our world today was monotonous, sorrowful, and grey? What if no one was here to form new creations, and think of bold ideas? Would triumph have a definition? Would there be outliers in our world today? We are constantly thinking, always generating new ideas and forming new thoughts. People even proceed by creating inventions, and building objects no one would of thought would be made today. But, what we don’t perceive is how they became successful and how they took advantage of the moment that was given to them. In the novel, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, the author explains that an outlier is one who is given an opportunity and knows how to take advantage. He believes that in order for a person to be successful they need at least ten thousand hours of hard work and effort in order to succeed at a skill. It is clear to me that like Malcolm Gladwell, I believe
In the book, groups of successful people are broken down and Gladwell compares their individual characteristics to see if there are any abnormal trends. He starts with talking about how the chance birthdates of a large number of professiona...
Once in a while, it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. Gladwell believes that cultural legacies are powerful forces. Cultural legacies are the customs of a family or a group of people, that is inherited through the generations. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, Cultural legacies is something that’s been passed down for generations to generations. It depends on what type of legacies was passed that will affect a person. If a good legacy was passed down, someone can keep that legacy going by trying hard at keeping the legacies going. If a bad legacy was passed down; I believe that cultural legacies can be altered or changed, by good working habits, determination, and a positive mindset to succeed. Culture can affect either positively or negatively, but we have the power to turn our cultural