Benchmark #2 - Book - Outliers -Part I

1. When does a Canadian hockey player want to be born? Why does it matter? The very best of the best-40% of the players will have been born between January and March, 30% between April and June, 20% between July and September, and 10% between October and December. This matters because in Canada the cutoff for age -class hockey is January 1. In preadolescence, a twelve month gap in age represents and enormous age difference in physical maturity. 2. What’s the 10,000 hour rule? The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert--in anything. 3. What problems might there be in Gladwell’s list of history’s richest individuals? There is no birthdays of the rich people. 4. Look at the time of year the techies were born. Do the dates support the time of year claim? It states that the Altair 8800 personal computer revolution was January 1975 but I Googled it and Google states that is was introduced in 1974 but it was designed in 1975. So I would say No the dates do not support the time of year claim. 5. What might explain the fact that not all Nobel winners come from the very best colleges, other than Gladwell’s IQ "good enough" claim? because some Universities, like University of Michigan law school, use a policy of affirmative action when it comes to applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds. 6. Does Chris Langan’s experience mean, as Gladwell claims, that success really isn’t about individual merit? Chris Langan was just not given the opportunity to be able to have his individual merit because he has the head for it. Even though he was given the opportunity and he seized, but without effort was not rewarded by the rest of society due to minor set backs. Maybe if he really wanted it he could of fought for it a little harder. Maybe he was not shown how to fight harder for his ambitions. 7. Gladwell claims historical treatment of Jews in both Europe and the US led to their dominance in the garment industry and NYC law firms. How much of an individual Jewish New Yorker’s success should be attributed to these historical factors? I am not sure because the understanding that I got from reading the book was not at all about the treatment of Jews, it was more about their background of their parents. For example the parents are hard workers, they put to good use the experience they already knew. The parents taught their children good morals like work hard for their money. The parents were able to help them with sending them off to college if not at least give them motivation to do so. 8. Gladwell gives several reasons for Asian academic success. What are they and which do you find most convincing? Rice paddies (crops) take a lot of work and good timing, Asians that come from parents of that background knew they had to help with that process it was more of a family business, that could be a reason. The way they teach Asians their math, they are faster in the way that they calculate their math by just using their head, there is a certain method to their madness. 9. Do the privileges and advantages Gladwell cites seem as decisive as he claims? Are these advantages unique? I could be possible but he does make it seem believable. The advantages could be unique because not a lot of people go out of their way to help others. but some of the advantages were taken without permission I think that part might not be unique. 10. What advantages have you benefited from? Why haven’t they been enough to catapult you to an outlier level of success? Alternatively, if you consider yourself very successful, to what do you attribute your success? I think the advantages that I benefitted from has been my cultural background it has given me the drive to do something with my life and help my people "la raza" and our community. I want to be very knowledgeable in the legal system so that I can translate to those who have difficulties understanding that kind of material. It could be me getting pregnant, maybe my drive is not good enough, sometimes my support system does not always pull through. When I become successful, and I don't mean financially, I will attribute my success to the people around me and my drive. To me successful would be working for a law firm that helps people when they are in difficult need. 11. What sort of opportunity does Gladwell think contributes to success? Can these opportunities always be made available to everyone? From my recollection it was the opportunity of being born in the right time frame and with the right supporters. I don't think so because everybody's family is not always supportive of what their children have a passion for. 12. What are the main differences between Asian and Western cultural legacies that Gladwell identifies? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each as he sees them? From my understanding Asian were more closed, they respected authority, they did not speak their mind. The western culture on the other hand did just the opposite. 13. Does Gladwell completely dismiss intelligence as a factor in success? What role does it play in his theory? No, he is just saying not to knock down the less privileged because you think you will have a better chance with the higher IQ guy. 14. Does Gladwell make a convincing case for his theory of what makes a person successful? Why or why not? I do not think so because he doesn not clearly specify what is successful. Unless, I did not read it or I missed it. 15. How would Gladwell define "successful"? Does he present a definite idea of what success is? I am not sure because If he did I don't think I caught it. 16. Can cultural legacies be changed? I believe so. Not completely, because you can never change your background of where you come from but you can definitely improve the way you are. Say for instance if your parents never implemented the whole church thing. and you went to a friends house where that is mandatory and for some odd reason it brought interest in you so when you have your own family you can implement that in your children. Similar to what I am going through right now. 17. Discuss Gladwell's implicit call for educational reform. Do you agree or disagree with his conclusions? I did not quite get the answer to that one I mean I read the epilogue but I didn't quite get it. I was trying to look for it and I could not find it. I know that he was talking about how bad it was in Jamaica for his parents and grandparent. he also discussed about how hard it was to get and education out there, but just could not find it.