Outliers written by Malcolm Gladwell uses several stories as examples on how specific variables can predict certain outcomes. The Matthew Effect, The 10,000 Hour Rule, and Three Lessons of Joe Flom are all examples of people’s stories of success. People can predict an outcome based on certain variables such as a birthdays, number of hours worked, or when and where someone was born. With that said the reader should remember, “People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage.”
The first example is the Matthew Effect. The Matthew Effect is the probability that a professional hockey player will be born in the first three months of the year because the cutoff is January 1st. If a hockey player is born in the first three months he is more mature, stronger and more experienced compared to the other players in his age. The same concept goes for baseball, the cutoff date for an age group or league is July 31st. Most professional baseball players’ birthday’s are in August. Similar to Hockey and Baseball, European soccer also has the same pattern of more players in the advanced leagues are born right after the cutoff date. The Matthew Effect also works in school. The advantage of a child being born at the beginning of the year have higher patterns of achievement since they are typically the oldest in their grade.
The second example is the 10,000 hour rule. The 10,000 Hour Rule states that the more a person has an opportunity to practice at something, depending on your age, the more likely you are to be better at that then someone who practices less. Also, and maybe equally important is having the opportunity to practice a particular task or skill. The CEOs and Professional Athletes don’t just work harder than ...
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... the Borgenichts to be successful. Hard work is a key aspect in happiness. In this example specific variables to be a successful lawyer are a Jewish heritage, have parents teach and show the value of hard work, and being born in the right era. Their country, culture, time era, and family background all plays a part of a greater opportunity.
Outliers is a nonfiction novel written by Malcolm Gladwell about peoples stories of success and how they got to where they are today. The Matthew Effect, The 10,000 Hour Rule, and Three Lessons of Joe Flom are all examples of looking at people’s specific variables to determine their success. A person’s birthday, how long someone has done something, having an opportunity, and a person’s ethnicity are all variables in explaining what has helped them become what they are today.
Works Cited
"outiers" written by Malcolm Gladwell
“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).
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.
When you train hard enough you can master or finesse a skill, therefore several people don't require training. Specific people are born with genetic enhancements that assist them with the skill and grants them an upper hand. David Epstein believes that genetics assist with the activity and does all of the work(Epstein,7). Malcom Gladwell believes that training pays off, moreover that if you train hard for plenty of hours you could surpass a prodigy(Gladwell,11). In Gladwell's writing Outliers, he talks about facts on how if you train for 10k hours you can master a skill. In Epstein's writing Sports Gene it revolves around a boy that was born with a genetic enhancement that doesn't train nevertheless is almost a pro without any training at
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.
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
After getting his reader’s attention with interesting stories, he then delves into the statistical data, including percentages, bar graphs, scissor graphs, and scatter plots, all of them reinforcing issues brought to attention through the personal stories. This organization and differing types of support tap into the reader’s emotions and logical awareness, effectively persuading many readers to do so. Another strength is in chapter six, where Putnam gives suggested solutions to the problems he has presented. He gives many diverse suggestions, individually giving answers to how to fix the problems presented in each of the chapters. His list gives courses of action for improving family life, parenting, schooling, and communities for lower class people.
Outliers-The Story of Success is a sociological, and psychological non-fiction book, which discusses success, and the driving reasons behind why some people are significantly more successful than others. Malcolm Gladwell explains this by dividing the book into two parts, opportunity and legacy. Opportunity discusses how select people are fortunate enough to be born between the months of January through March, and also includes the idea that those who are already successful will have more opportunities to improve and become even more successful. The 10,000-hour rule proves the idea that in order to become successful in a certain skill, one must have practiced that skill for at least 10,000 hours. In addition to the 10,000-hour rule, timing is also a major component that implies being in the right place at the right time, which brings the author to discuss Bill Gates who was born during the time where programming and computer technology was emerging, therefore sparking his interest in computers, later bringing him to create Microsoft. Another point Gladwell brings forth is the notion of one’s upbringing, race, and ethnicity can be a factor behind their success. And lastly, pursuing meaningful work will cause one to continue working with their skill and not give up. Legacy is a collection of examples that support the idea: values are passed down from generation to generation, which may cause a certain group of people to be more persistent in a skill, or occupation.
Occasionally, it is important to be born during certain times of the year in order to become better at a task that is being performed. In other words, people may have advantages depending on the time of the year they are born. They practice more for a sport or get further help for school. Gladwell says that “A boy who turns ten on January 2, then, could be playing alongside someone who does not turn ten until the end of the year…a twelve month gap in age represents enormous differences in physical maturity”(24). What he means is that a young boy born in January may have a greater physical advantage than a boy born in December when it comes to playing hockey. This example can be applied to any other sport. When the child starts conditioning at 6, his friend will be 5 and still to young to condition giving the older kid the advantage to play better. Every country arranges the cut off dates differently according to the sport and the season it is played in. Gladwell says, “The cutoff date for almost all non-school baseball leagues in the United States is July 31, with the result that more major league players are born in August than any other month”(26). If players are...
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.
For example, Gladwell examines trends in the rosters of the elite Canadian Hockey League, finding that the majority of players were born in January, February, or March. Comparing these dates to the cutoff date for each age division, January 1, Gladwell proves that birthdates impact success, as the majority of hockey players who were older in each age division became successful because of maturing earlier than their younger peers in their age division. In terms of redshirting, Gladwell’s theory implies that a student who enters kindergarten one year older than the rest of their classmates will have a better chance of success due to earlier
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.
Have you ever heard of the 10,000 hour rule? It states that if you spend 10,000 hours on something you will automatically become good at it, regardless of talent or gifted traits. currently there is an argument around the 10,000 hour rule and if 10,000 hours are
"That Elusive Birth Order Effect and What It Means." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
In the article, “What it takes to Be Great,” Geoffrey Colvin makes the argument “you will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful.” He explains that anyone can become great and no one is born with a gift for a specific profession. Colvin uses many examples to support his statement such as Tiger Woods, a golf champion, Winston Churchill, a great orator, and Michael Jordan, a basketball player. They have proved that “the ten year” rule, deliberate practice, and aiming to get better has helped them achieve greatness. (Colvin) Tiger Woods, at 18 months, was encouraged to play golf by his father. By the time he was 18 years old, he became the youngest winner ever of the U.S. Amateur Championships. Winston Churchill spent hours rehearsing his speeches and became one of the 20th century’s greatest orators. Michael Jordan was kicked off his high school team because he wasn’t good enough to play. After training intensively he became one of the best basketball players. There are many others that have achieved greatness through this practice such as Usher, Sirena Williams, Thomas Edison, and Diane Warren. I believe perfecting your performance by a continuance of practice results in a huge improvement to greatness. We are like play dough. We can mold ourselves into greatness through years of deliberate practice, “…activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, provides feedback on results, and involves high levels of repetition”, with the ultimate goal of extending our abilities to improve.
Gladwell (2008) uses several examples of people who are “outlier”. For example, he uses Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Bill Joy, The Beatles and describes why they are “outliers”. He uses their background and the example