This essay reflects the issues presented in Gladwell 's "The Trouble with Geniuses" parts 1 and 2. You will hear what I believe was Gladwell 's purpose for writing both parts of "The Trouble with Geniuses," who I believe his audience is, and the approaches he takes to address us as readers. This essay will follow with what is the argument behind "Geniuses," how Gladwell contextualizes his arguments, what contextual perspective did Gladwell take for both chapters, and why I agree with Gladwell 's idea of using such individuals with these wonderful gifted abilities to help others who may struggle with the issues that may come along with being a "Genius." Geniuses are defined people of "an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc." (“dictionary.com”). Unfortunately, I have yet to meet someone with such a gifted privilege and I am sure this society is full with these gifted individuals who I envy. There have been many times that I have wished I had a high IQ because I do have the tendencies to struggle …show more content…
To address us as readers, I noticed Gladwell takes various approaches to intrigue us as an audience. One of these approaches is to tell his thoughts through a story about various individuals who struggled to succeed. Another approach is through the use of analogy. Analogies are used to “argue from one specific example to another, reasoning that because the two examples are alike in many ways, they are also alike in one further specific way.” (Weston 19). Gladwell uses the use of analogy to compare the overall outcome of the story, which is that at a certain point how high your IQ is does not matter, to situations that his audience can relate to or know of such as
Does the amount of schooling measure a person’s intelligence level? The essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” written by Mike Rose, argue that the intelligent a person has should not be measure under the amount of schooling, using the example of his uncle, who did not get a formal education, become the head of general motor. As for this, Rose suggest that education should be taken as priority. I agree with Rose point of view because the one who get formal education do not symbolize success. In older generation, many people could not afford the tuition, however they can also succeed. In the other word, having formal education does not grantee us a successful future.
In, “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff takes a deeper look into the argument of “street smart” versus “book smarts” and why one is viewed to be more “intellectual” than the other. The essay is adapted from his 2003 book, “Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind”. Graff, a professor of English and Education at the University of Illinois in Chicago, wrote this book to persuade his audience, whom of which could be anyone at any age with “book smarts” or “street smarts” (specifically those involved in the world of education), to think deeper about “street smarts” and how they can allow us to become more intellectual than maybe “book smarts” can. He questions the validity of the current education system and suggests that instead of using the age old standard texts, we begin with texts that are interesting to our own minds.
In the minds of many, intelligence not only excels your experience in education, but is also the key to a successful career. In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell refutes this thought by expanding on the belief that intelligence can only take you so far, and that creativity and innovation tend to lead to just as much success. This thought process applies to many different levels of life including our interview and acceptance into the ACTION program.
He explains that talent is only a small portion of someone's success, it is how they are raised and what opportunities they are given that define how they fare later on in life. This produces a paradox. One such paradox is Chris Langan, a 64-year-old man living in Princeton, Missouri, who has been described as one of the smartest men to ever live, with an IQ ranging from 190 to 210. Gladwell explains that due to his financial situation and his lack of assertiveness, he never finished college. He never went on to change the world, as one would expect from someone so intelligent. From these situations, a paradox in society is revealed; a brilliant person who could easily have a huge impact on the world ends up doing nothing substantial due to the lack of opportunities and social graces given to him. This paradox can be found everywhere, plenty of men and women whose genius is never harnessed due to lack of
In today’s world, intelligence remains the key to success. The wise minister Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” Intelligence is the ability to obtain and apply knowledge and skill. In Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen, the main characters Danny Saunders and Reuven Malter display immense intelligence throughout the story. Reb Saunders demonstrates his intelligence by intentionally cultivating thought-provoking questions for every situation with his son, Danny, and others. Reuven, Danny, and Reb Saunders all display exceptional qualities, but intelligence remains the most prominent trait in each
Both Nicholas Carr and Malcolm Gladwell debated how the Internet has affected humankind in both positive and negative ways. Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for the New Yorker and the author of Small Change:Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted. Nicholas Carr is a writer who has formerly written for the New York Times, The Guardian etc, he also wrote Is Google Making Us Stupid? Gladwell’s and Carr’s essays identifies how the internet has a damaging effect on people.
His anecdotes presented in the article are appropriate in terms of his subject and claims. The author responds back to the naysayers by saying that people only look at the test scores earned in school, but not the actual talent. He says, “Our culture- in Cartesian fashion- separates the body from the mind, so that, for example we assume that the use of tool does not involve abstraction. We reinforce this notion by defining intelligence solely on grades in school and number on IQ tests. And we employ social biases pertaining to a person’s place on the occupational ladder” (279). The author says that instead of looking at people’s talent we judge them by their grades in school or their IQ score, and we also employ them based on these numbers. People learn more each time they perform a task. He talks about blue collared individuals developing multi-tasking and creativity skills as they perform the task they are asked to
The article Anti-intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, written by Arizona State University student Grant Penrod, describes the culture of negatively viewing intellectuals in the United States. The author writes that intellectual achievements are often valued less than athletics. Anti-intellectualism is shown to be very common in our society. Penrod gives examples of aggression against intellectuals and stresses that it is a prominent problem. He also describes how smart kids are viewed as anti-social; this stereotype leads to them being excluded by their peers. Penrod believes that anti-intellectual feelings may come from the media’s presentation of public figures who do not say that academics have contributed to their success, or that the wealth and fame of uneducated celebrities causes the general public to question whether intellectualism is of any importance. Overall, Penrod
Genius is still a poplar creation myth that is being followed and taught in the current culture of today. The Genius myth begins like this; in the beginning God a spirit who is neither male nor female created the universe. At this time Earth was a void and was formless, covered in total darkness. Earth was also covered in a raging ocean and
“Hidden Intellectualism” written by Gerald Graff, is a compelling essay that presents the contradicting sides of “book smarts” and “street smarts” and how these terms tied in to Graff’s life growing up. Graff felt like the school was at fault that the children with more “street smarts” were marked with the reputation of being inadequate in the classroom. Instead of promoting the knowledge of dating, cars, or social cues, the educational system deemed them unnecessary. Gerald Graff thought that “street smarts” could help people with academics. In his essay, Graff confessed that despite his success as an “intellect” now, he was the exact opposite until college. Where he grew up in Chicago, Illinois, intelligence was looked down upon around peers
In the essay “Thought” by Louis H. Sullivan, he states that people don’t always need words just to communicate. There are several ways that individuals are able to communicate without words, they can express themselves by gestures and facial features, like explaining themselves to others. Sullivan believes that both thinking and creative thinking are better without words and that the minds is always working; therefore, it does not have time to place words together. In order to think clearly they must use other means of pondering; although, the mind works quickly it will take a long time to write what they are thinking because the mind continues without stopping. When individuals are reading they are not think their own thought exactly but what
...est high school students in America” (Gladwell 82). It was shocking to learn that all the Nobel Prize in Medicine winners did not all come from the most prestigious schools. Also, in the third chapter I notices some aspects that were highly relatable to me. My life relates to subjects included in chapter three because I am a student. It is interesting and helpful to learn that one does not need the highest IQ to succeed in today’s world. This is how I relate to chapter three. The third chapter in Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell had striking information that stated that IQs do not always determine who will be successful, and I can relate to the information in the chapter because I am student who has thought about my IQ before.
Initially I would have never read a book like this unless it was not part of the summer work. However this book has sparked an interest in me to find and read more books such as the Tipping Point. Reading this book was very rewarding if was opened up to a new horizon of thinking and how the world operates. When the author talked on the Law of the Few it made me thinks which category I stood in was I connector, maven, or a salesperson or maybe a mixture. Due to the fact that Gladwell had done such in depth research for this book I learned many new stories such as how Sesame Street was created and how a community of women was able to be educated upon breast cancer. As well as the idea were in the midst of a crisis and there are multiple people around and no one call for help, because they assume there neighbor has called or will called but when they are alone they arise to the problem. That is why in a crisis it is important to make eye contact or some sort of contact with another individual to call 911 or find help. Gladwell 's theory on the power of context was very relatable with the idea that once we become adapted to a certain atmosphere it is very likely we will change to adapt to that atmosphere. A theory such as this I am able to relate to my own life in my tenth grade Spanish class there were many eleventh and twelfth graders who were slackers and in order to fit in I became a slacker so I could adapt to that environment. As well as when my cousins came to
First, re: Keats: his letter addresses something that I've been wondering about "genius." I'm reminded of this popular quotation from Ulysses: "A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." If Genius (I love that it's capitalized) is some sort of spectral or seraphic presence independent of mind, then it seems to visit or attach itself to only a few people every generation. Why is it so selective? This is a superstitious explanation for "genius," of course, and we know statistically that genius IQs really are rare. But I've been seeing this wonderful psychyoga instructor who is also a clairvoyant, and she insists that "everyone has genius inside them." This could be New Age, kumbaya claptrap, but I think she's right; therefore, Joyce (perhaps unwittingly) is talking about everyone (my professor used to say, "Love your mistakes!" at the end of every class). But how do people access genius so quickly (precocity/child prodigies) and so easily (the daily, random assemblage of great poems)?
work of a genius and the work of what he terms "a man of brains." (page