Outliers

What do the Chinese proverbs illustrate?

"Chinese proverbs are striking in their belief that 'hard work, shrewd planning and self-reliance or cooperation with a small group will in time bring recompense'." Some of the proverbs- "no food without blood and sweat" "In the winter, the lazy man freezes to death."

Psychologists have been debating over what aspects of achievement?

"Is there such thing as innate talent?"

What opportunity did the Beatles have to practice extensively? What role did geography play?

While they were still a struggling high school rock band, they were invited to play in Hamburg, Germany. It was a huge nonstop show, hour after hour, with a lot of people watching. The bands playing all day every day to catch the passing traffic. This was all set up by a particular club owner named Bruno. Bruno normally scouted bands from Liverpool, but accidentally went to London to look for bands, where he came across an entrepreneur from Liverpool who happened to be in London. The entrepreneur arranged for some London bands to play in Hamburg.

Does Gladwell support affirmative action? Why or why not?

Yes because the people are just as successful in the real world.

a. What does Gladwell include at the beginning of the book? b. Why do you think he includes it?

a.- The definition of an outlier b-To state what an outlier is so the reader knows what the book is about

relative age bias is a concern in what area other than sports

academics

How does Gladwell explain the primary causes of plane crashes?

because of miscommunication and language issues. There are two places where miscommunication occurs: among pilots in the cockpit and between air traffic controllers and pilots.

Gladwell lists the universities from which recent American winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and the American Nobel laureates in Chemistry received their undergraduate degrees. What do these lists demonstrate?

the range of schools go from just good schools to GREAT schools. It doesnt matter if you go to a GREAT school

Why does Gladwell introduce Christopher Langan by bringing up his appearance on the television show 1 vs. 100?

to prove Christopher langan's intelligence

What is the explanation for this incident?

if these people were insulted, they wanted to fight; culture of honor: man's reputation is centered of livelihood and self worth

Dov Cohen and Richard Nisbett performed a psychology experiment to determine if "remnants of the culture of honor" could be found in the "modern era." What did the results of the experiment indicate?

mattered where you were from; southerners would get angry and wanted to fight, while others would blow it off

How, according to Gladwell's concept, does rice farming differ from other types of agriculture?

Rice farmers can't afford to just by equipment. If they want to improve their yields, they must work harder, be smarter, and manage their time better. Rice farmers must work harder to do better, there are no shortcuts.

How do graphics help Gladwell articulate his point about IQ tests?

The relationship between IQ and success only works up to a point. Once someone reaches an IQ of 120, having additional IQ points doesn't translate into any measurable real-world advantage.

How does Gladwell explain American educational reforms?

The early educational reformers were also tremendously concerned that children not get too much schooling. Edward Jarvis did a study of 1,741 cases of insanity and 205 were from "over-study". Horace Mann believed that students working too hard would create a "most pernicious influence upon character and habits... Not infrequently is health itself destroyed by over-stimulating the mind." In education journals of the day, there was a constant worry about over taxing the students.

In what ways do the Italian immigrants bring their home with them?

They brought their culture (language, food, religion, values, multiple generations living under 1 roof)

In what ways are Terman's ideas about intelligence and success still part of cultural attitudes?

We are convinced that those at the very top of the IQ scale have the greatest potential.

What was the group of young geniuses that Terman selected called? How is this nickname ironic?

"Termites" --- The man who collected the group is named Terman! Also, termites are small yet these individuals are doing great things.

According to Gladwell's calculations, why are so few people able to reach mastery level of specific skills?

10,000 hours is a huge amount of time that is unable to be accomplished without encouraging/supporting parents, money, or some extraordinary opportunity that gives them a chance to put in those hours.

While analyzing the transcript from the Avianca flight, Gladwell says: "If it were not the prelude to a tragedy, their back and forth would resemble an Abbott and Costello routine." Identify the literary terms in this statement.

Allusion

How does this information on practical intelligence and parenting styles apply to Langan and Oppenheimer?

It gave Oppenheimer and advantage that Langan lacked, based on how they were raised and in what kind of home.

What purpose does Ratwatte's anecdote about flying from Dubai to New York City serve?

It gives his firsthand account of what could go wrong on a plan and result in a disaster

What explanation does Gladwell give when he explains the "three classic preconditions of a plane crash"? what are those conditions?

(the three preconditions are minor technical malfunctions, bad weather, and a tired pilot) none are by themselves enough to cause a crash but they require the full attention of the flight crew which didn't occur in Korean Air 801

What did sociologist John Bruhn and the graduate students discover?

- Virtually no one under 55 died of a heart attack or had heart disease - No suicide - No alcoholism - No drug addiction - very little crime * the people were just dying from old age

What was special about the University of Michigan's Computer Center?

-"The university's enormous mainframe computers stood in the middle of a vast white room, looking, as one faculty member remembers, "like one of the last scenes in the move 2001: A Space Odyssey." -Dozens of keypunch machines (early version of computer terminals)

In what ways is KIPP trying to separate itself from the cultural legacy of American schools and what culture is it more similar to?

America has a summer vacation problem, and KIPP is trying to solve that (have more class time and three weeks in the summer of school). KIPP has decided to bring the lessons of the rice paddy to the American inner city.

Why might Gladwell have included the quote from Korean president, Kim Dae-jung: "The issue of Korean Air is not a matter of an individual company but a matter of the whole country."?

Because Korean social norms had a direct effect on what happened in the cockpit.

Compare Chris Langan and Robert Oppenheimer.

Both Oppenheimer and Langan broke rules - Oppenheimer tried to poison his tutor and Langan's mother didn't fill out his scholarship form. However, their punishments were so different - Oppenheimer had to see a psychiatrist and Langan lost his scholarship.

How does a "self-fulfilling prophecy" cause the boys identified as the most talented hockey players in their age range to become the best players?

Canadians start with a false definition of who the best nine and ten year old hockey players are, but the way they treat those "all-stars" ends up making their false judgement look correct.

What does Gladwell find strange about Langan's story?

Even though Langan was brilliant, his teachers and the staff at Reed University didn't seem to care if he stayed or not.

What is the typical "profoundly wrong" way people make sense of success?

Gladwell argues that "people don't rise from nothing" He disagrees that you are born with talent or achieve it solely on your own

what research does gladwell discuss to quantify the relative age bias that exists outside of sports?

Gladwell looks at math and science tests of young children and he also looked at college grades vs. ages and found the same issue relating to cutoff dates.

How does Gladwell make his point about the inherent advantage of the Chinese number system clear to the reader?

He asks the reader to read a set of numbers, look away, and then recite them from memory. He goes on to explain that if you speak English you have a 50% chance of remembering them, but it you speak Chinese, you are almost certain to get it right. The Chinese numbering system is far more concise and uniform.

How did Gates's privileged background contribute to his success?

His parents sent him to Lakeside, a private school for Seattle's elite families. The Mothers' Club at school did a rummage sale every year and when Gates was there, they put $3,000 towards a computer terminal (most colleges didn't even have computer clubs during this time). Lakeside installed the ASR-33 Teletype which was a time-sharing terminal with a direct link to a mainframe computer in downtown Seattle. He got to do real-time programming as an 8th grader

What information does Gladwell provide to exemplify Langan's genius?

IQ of 195 Speaking at 6 months Began questioning the existence of God at 5 Could walk into a test in a foreign language class (not having studied at all), and skim the textbook in a few minutes and ace the test Perfect SAT score Didn't attend school yet aced tests

In what way does the idea of "cultural legacies" expand on Gladwell's earlier points?

If you take cultural legacies seriously you can make people better and be more successful; the book is based on success

What is the explanation for the unexpected demographics of the seventy-five richest people in human history?

It really matters how old you were when a transformation in the world was going on

in whcih sports is relative age not a factor and why

Relative age is not a factor in US football and basketball because they don't select, stream, and differentiate as drastically.

What is Gladwell's argument about explanations for success?

Successful people are "beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies" "It makes a difference where and when you grew up" "The culture we belong to and the legacies passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine"

What inspired Stanford psychology professor Lewis Terman to look for gifted children?

Terman met a boy named Henry Cowell, who was raised in poverty and chaos. He never got along with children, so he had been unschooled since he was 7. He worked as a janitor. Sometimes he would sneak away from his job and play piano. The music was beautiful. Terman decided to test Cowell's IQ. Sure enough he had an IQ of above 140 (genius level). Terman began to look for other geniuses who were diamonds in the rough. He dedicated his life to finding these individuals.

How did the old-line law firms' exclusivity inadvertently benefit people like Joe Flom?

The big law firms would not hire Jewish Immigrants and wouldn't take the lower cases like (litigation and proxy fights). The small law firms, however, would hire Jewish Immigrants like Flom and would take the cases the big law firms would not. Because of this, the small law firms became really good at those cases and eventually became famous for them, allowing their business to succeed.

Gladwell describes how Maurice Janklow did not become particularly successful, while his son Mort made great achievements. How does this account relate to Gladwell's earlier points?

The generation in which Mort was born allowed him to be successful. He was born in the 1930s. Maurice was not successful because he was born before 1911 so he graduated college at the height of the Depression when job opportunities were scarce

why is the phenomenon of "accumulative advantage" called the "matthew effect"?

The verse in Matthew says " for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that half shall not be taken away even that which he hath." Meaning that the most successful get the most opportunities.

What is the formula for these successful business people?

Their success was not just of their own making. It was a product of the world in which they grew up

Why was the medical establishment reluctant to accept Wolf's explanation?

"no one was used to thinking about health in terms of community" They weren't defending their conclusions with charts and data, they were arguing that their culture is what kept them healty

Who is Suren Ratwatte, and why does Gladwell quote him extensively in this chapter?

An airplane pilot who has studied airplane disasters; his quotes provide a substantial amount of first hand evidence as to why some plane crashes can occur.

How is the story of Bill Joy reframed in light of the ten-thousand-hour rule?

Because he happened to go to a farsighted school like the University of Michigan, he was able to practice on a time-sharing system instead of punch cards. The computer system happened to have a bug, so he could program all he wanted. The university spent the money to stay open 24 hours, so Joy could practice all day long. Because he got so much practice, he was given the opportunity to rewrite UNIX and was up to the task

How did Chris Langan's background affect his academic success?

Chris Langan's mother was from San Francisco and was estranged from her family. She had four sons, each with a different father. Chris was the eldest. He grew up in a poor family where they only had one set of clothes each. His mom forgot to fill out his scholarship form when he was in college and he lost his scholarship because of that. Since he lost his scholarship, he could no longer attend the school and wasn't respected as an intellectual.

How does Gladwell use his mother's story to support his point about success?

Gladwell ends his book by telling the story of his own life, and tracking his own successes and failures back to cultural legacies, opportunities, and good fortune. Gladwell ends by saying that it would be dishonest of him to claim his mother's success—and his own—was merely a product of hard work and determination, even though those were critical elements. In anyone's story of success, including Gladwell's own, we must take into consideration all of the cultural, situational, and environmental concerns that play a critical role.

On what does Gladwell focus as he analyzes the black box data from plane crashes?

He focuses on the communication between the pilots and the command tower and what went wrong between them.

How does Gladwell expand the analysis of the flight recorder transcript from Korean Air 801?

He shows the uncomfortableness of the first officer to speak up and how he tries to subtley hint at the mistake without suggesting directly. He also explains that that is the way of the Korean language, but works only when the listener is capable of paying close attention to the speaker.

How does a divergence test differ from a traditional IQ test? what advantages does a divergence test have?

It test different aspects. It shows where others excel in creativity and analytical intelligence.

Why did Jewish immigrants have an advantage over other people who immigrated to America?

Jewish immigrants had a background in garment making so when they came to America and garments were in high demand, they had the opportunity to make a living out of it.

Why is social hierarchy a cause of plane crashes? how does this factor relate to cultural legacy?

Korea is a high power-distance culture where there is a great deal of respect between a person in authority and a subordinate. The other pilots are less likely to challenge the captain when he makes a mistake which can result in a crash.

What specific cultural issues does Gladwell address in regards to the crash of KAL flight 801?

Linguistic and high power-distance

What were the results of Terman's study of selected geniuses according to Gladwell?

Most ended up with average jobs and average lifestyles. Their IQ scores did't mean they would succeed.

What is the "the rule" to famous software billionaires, rock bands, and star athletes?

Not extraordinary talent, but EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITIES

What is especially interesting about the "list of the seventy-five richest people in human history"?

Of the 75 names, an astonishing fourteen are Americans born within 9 years of one another in the mid-nineteenth century

What does Gladwell mean when he states that "IQ has a threshold"

Once you reach a certain IQ level, getting higher scores than that, won't make a difference.

What does the opening account of Korean Air flight 801 imply?

That even though plane crashes are rare, they can happen due to a confluence of various seemingly unrelated factors.

Identify and explain extended metaphor the author uses about the growth of a tree.

The tallest oak tree in the forest is the tallest because no other tree blocked the sunlight, the soil around it was good, no rabbit chewed it up, no lumberjack cut it down... Gladwell is saying that the road to success has to do with a lot more than just working hard- it involves opportunity & luck

Why is the hockey game between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Vancouver Giants significant?

The teams were the 2 best teams in the league (future stars)

How did Korean Air address the communication problems between their captains and flight crews? How does this change relate to cultural legacy?

They addressed them by listening back at the recordings and using it as a teaching tool for the pilots and flight crew of what to do in an emergency

How was the study of Roseto conducted?

They analyzed medical records and death certificates & invited the entire town to do blood work and EKGs

How do IQ test scores translate to success in real life?

They don't have a huge effect on success in the real world

what is the reason for the relative age phenomenon in hockey?

The eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is in January so the kids with early birthdays can begin playing at a younger age.

How does the KIPP school schedule affect teachers and students?

The kids got to school from 7:25-5 pm, and can be there til 7 if participating in sports, detentions, or clubs. They have longer classes than the average time. They have Saturday school 9-1, and three extra weeks in the summer of 8-2. KIPP is spending 50-60% more time learning than the traditional public school student. It is hard at the beginning but by the end of the day they are restless. Part of what gets them through is endurance and motivation, as well as incentives. They have a lot of grit and self-control.

What role did history play in the lives of Joyce and Faith Nation?

William MacMillan was a historian university professor who criticized the Jamaican educational system. His published writings caused riots in Jamaica. This resulted in island-wide scholarships to attend high school and how Faith & Joyce Nation got to go.

What is "practical intelligence"?

It includes things like "knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect."

What correlation exists between the math rankings of the TIMSS and the ranking of the questionnaires? How is this correlation significant to Gladwell's argument?

"The countries whose students are willing to concentrate and sit still long enough and focus on answering every single question in an endless questionnaire are the same countries whose students do the best hob of solving math problems." This shows that success has more to do with dedication than it does with innate ability (born gifts/talents)

How does Gladwell relate the ten-thousand-hour rule to potential late-born prodigies on Czech or Canadian sports teams?

"The late born prodigy doesn't get chosen for the all-star team as an eight-year-old because he is too small. So he doesn't get the extra practice. And without extra practice, he has no chance at getting 10,000 hours of practice time by the time professional hockey teams start scouting for players. Without 10,000 hours of practice, there is no way he can ever master the skills necessary for playing at the professional level."

Who is Bill Joy?

-Awkward teenager that came to the University of Michigan in hopes of becoming a biologist or mathematician. -Stumbled across the new Computer Center and was hooked. -Got phD from University of California at Berkeley

How did psychologist K. Anders Ericsson study musicians? What pattern does he find?

-Divided the violinists at the Berlin's elite Academy of Music into 3 groups. Group 1 was comprised of the "stars"— those with the potential to be world-class soloists. Group 2 were those considered "good." And Group 3 were those who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who desired to be music teachers at the nearby public school. -He asked each group the same question. "Over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced?" -The "stars" averaged a whopping 10,000 hours. Group 2 averaged totaled 8,000 hours and Group 3 averaged barely over 4,000 hours.

What are some of Bill Joy's accomplishments?

-Rewrote UNIX, a software system developed by AT&T for mainframe computers -Cofounded Sun Microsystems (critical player inn computer revolution) -Rewrote Java -"Edison of the Internet"

what does gladwell suggest to alleviate the matthew effect

Gladwell suggests seperate hockey leagues divided up by birth month, and also splitting up Jan-April students from May-August, and September-December so that kids can learn at their own levels.

What pattern occured in the cumberland plateau from the 1860s until the early 1900s?

Appalachian pattern; families fought in identical towns up and down this mountain range

Why were the residents of Roseto, Pennsylvania, all from the same region of Italy?

At first a small group went to the New World and found work in Pennsylvania then they sent word back home and their loved ones came and this cycle repeated.

What did the children of garment workers learn from their parents? How does this relate to previously mentioned ideas?

By watching their parents in the garment industry, they learned the importance of hard work and how to assert themselves in order to become successful

What are 3 qualities of meaningful work, according to Gladwell?

Complexity, autonomy, and a relationship between effort and reward in doing creative work

How does Gladwell tie the various components of Outliers together?

Everything we have learned in Outliers says that success follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed. If it were, Chris Langan would be up there with Einstein. Nor is success simply the sum, of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities—and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. For hockey and soccer players born in January, it's a better shot at making the all-star team. For the Beatles, it was Hamburg. For Bill Gates, the lucky break was being born at the right time and getting the gift of a computer terminal in junior high. Joe Flom and the founders of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz got multiple breaks. They were born at the right time with the right parents and the right ethnicity, which allowed them to practice takeover law for 20 years before the rest of the legal world caught on. And what Korean air did, when it finally turned its operations around, was give its pilots the opportunity to escape the constraints of their cultural legacy

How does Gladwell re-analyze Terman's genius study in order to apply the data to the timing of successful Jewish lawyers?

Gladwell compares how the Termites in Terman's study that were successful, had an advantage of time because they were born between 1912 and 1917 (the later group) and when they got out of college, the worst part of the Depression was over. Jewish Lawyers became successful because of their TIMING because the doors were closed to them at the big downtown law firms, so they were forced to work at smaller firms. This ended up being an advantage for them because they became famous for taking the cases that the big law firms wouldn't take. This allowed Jewish Lawyer's business to succeed.

Gladwell relates rice farming to what previously mentioned topic? How does this connection bolster his argument?

Gladwell talks about IQs. He says that Asians being better at math has less to do with IQs and more to do with their culture. Typically, Asians have a lower recoded IQ, but they are better at math- this bolsters his argument that "coming from a culture shaped by the demands of growing rice makes you better at math."

What data does Gladwell provide to support his claim that successful lawyers in NYC are the children of Jewish immigrants who worked in the garment industry?

Gladwell used family trees to show the different occupations of the Jewish Immigrant generations. He also explained that most of the Jewish Immigrants worked in the garment industry. Three of the four children from the different families went to New York City Public School and then all four of them went to New York University Law School. Now they are all partners of the Black Rock Law Firm.

What purpose does the description and background of the rice paddies serve?

Gladwell wanted to illustrate the tremendous amount of work that goes into building rice paddies. It is painstakingly laborious work. Anyone who works in rice fields has an incredible work ethic.

What study does Gladwell bring up again when discussing the difference in test scores after the summer vacation?

He brings up the parenting styles study, conducted by Annette Lareau, from the Chris Langan chapter. When we look back to Alex Williams we see how his parents believed in concerted cultivation. He gets enrolled in tons of special programs and has books lying around to read over the summer. But, Katie Brindle, does not have those same opportunities. Most likely she spends her summer, while living a kids dream of watching TV and hanging out with friends, not learning more.

Why does Gladwell bring up Terman's geniuses again?

He drills in the point that "no one - not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not geniuses - ever make it alone."

how does gladwell alter the recounting of the play-by-play of the game and what purpose does this serve?

He reads the play by play and instead of saying their names, he says their birthdays. This shows us that the best ones were born early in the year.

Why does Gladwell tell a false story about his mother's path to success?

He tells a false story to once again reiterate that success is about opportunity. The story wasn't a lie in the sense that the facts were made up, but it is false in the way that telling the story of Bill Gates without mentioning the computer at Lakeside is false, or accounting for Asian math prowess without going back to the rice paddies is false. It leaves out many of the mother's opportunities and the importance of her cultural legacy.

How does Gladwell use suspense in this nonfiction book to keep readers intrigued?

He uses suspense by not telling the full story at first of each character and always using the example of rags-to-riches and saying that "I hope by now that you are skeptical of this kind of story". By Gladwell explaining the story of the character this way, he keeps the reader intrigued by making them want to know the real reason for the character's success.

When beginning to retell the biography of Bill Gates, how does Gladwell alter his sentence structure? What rhetorical purpose might this variation serve?

He uses very short sentences that do not include a subject. I think he did this to quickly summarize his path to success before explaining it in depth.

What does Gladwell consider remarkable about Joe Flom's rise to becoming a named partner at "one of the largest and most powerful law firms in the world"?

He was a brilliant Jewish kid when Jews were heavily discriminated and overcame poverty and the Depression and couldn't get a job at the stuffy downtown law firm, but makes it on his own through sheer hustle and ability. Everything that we expect to be disadvantages turned out to be advantages for him. He was the last living named partner of the law firm.

Who is Stewart Wolf and why did he come to Roseto?

He was a physician & he taught at the university of Oklahoma medical school. He spent his summer in Pennsylvania. A colleague told him that he rarely saw anyone from Roseto with a heart attack- this was unheard of in the 50s so wolf investigated

Why does Gladwell discuss early nineteenth-century reformers who set out to establish a public education system in the united states?

He was laying the background for his next topic in the chapter: summer vacation. Public school back then was a haphazard assortment of locally run one-room school houses. In rural areas, the schedule framed the busy planting and harvesting seasons, and the city schools mirrored the schedules of the working-class parents. These facts provide the background of today's now summer vacation.

What advantage did Steve Jobs have over other young people in computer programming?

He wasn't from a rich family. He grew up in Mountain View, California, the center of Silicon Valley. His neighbors were engineers from Hewlett-Packard, one of the most important electronics firms in the world. In his teens, he visited the Flea Markets in Mountain View, where electronics hobbyists and tinkerers sold spare parts. Bill Hewlett, one of Hewlett-Packard's founders, gave Jobs a summer job where he worked on an assembly line to build computers. This interested him so much that he later tried designing his own computer.

What theory does Gladwell develop about the Silicon Valley business tycoons?

If January 1975 was the dawn of the personal computer age, than ideally, you would have wanted to be 20 or 21, which is to say, having been born in 1954 or 1955

What ideas does Gladwell reiterate in his account of the classroom?

In an 8th grade math class he observes, there is a student named Aaron in front of the class working a problem. The only difference between this classroom and every other class in America was that Aaron was up at the front working on that on problem for 20 minutes--- methodically, carefully, with the participation of the class, working his way through not just the answer but also the question of whether there was more than one way to get the answer. It was Renee painstakingly figuring out the concept of undefined slope all over again. This extra time allows for the math education to really sink in and for them to be able to learn it.

What is surprising about KIPP academy in terms of its location, demographics, and the quality of its students?

It is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in NYC. It is a middle school, and classes are large: the fifth grade has two sections of 35 students each. Usually the students come from poor backgrounds, and you would expect these to be the kind of student that would make educators despair. But, when you walk in the school you know something is different. The students are walking in the hall in a single file line and are taught manners. KIPP has become one of the most desirable public schools in NYC. (It is most famous for math).

Examine Gladwell's next chart. What impact does summer vacation seem to have on test scores and why, according to the book, does it have this effect?

John Hopkins sociologist tacked the progress of 650 first graders using the California achievement test in math and reading skills. (See page 255 for chart). You can see at the beginning in first grade the differences between the low, middle, and high are not substantial, but by 5th grade they become apparent. According to the book, upper class kids have the ability to learn more over the summer (as seen in charts on 257). While upper class kids are enrolled in mind enrichment activities over the summer, the poorer kids are not able to do that causing them to fall behind.

Why is KIPP not an ideal solution for helping low-income children excel in school?

Marita is an only child in a single parent home, her mother never went to college, and they share a one bedroom apartment in the Bronx. She wakes up at 5:45, gets ready, and then meet at the bus stop. When she gets home around 5:30 and have to do homework til 10 or 10:30. Then she is going to bed from around 11-12. Marita knew how unusual her situation was. She had the hours of a lawyer trying to make partner, or of a medical resident. All that was missing were the dark circles under her eyes, and a steaming cup of coffee, except that she was too young for either. Marita has to shed some of her own cultural legacy she had been given, because it does not match her circumstances either—not when middle- and upper class families are using the weekends and summer vacation to push their children ahead.

How does the example of Renee's puzzling out a math problem demonstrate that Asian's better math scores are a result of their hard work rather than because of any innate ability?

Renee was willing to spend 22 minutes to get the math problem right. The group of students the professor surveyed said that they would spend anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes on a math problem before giving up. Hard work is the key to being successful in math, not innate ability.

Why does the author include the story of Stewart Wolf and Roseto in the introduction?

The author wants to set up what the book is talking about- cultural influences & outliers It was tricky for the doctor to accept "culture" as the explanation for the lack of heart attacks, but it is true. The story displays an example of an outlier & sets up what the book will talk about

What lesson does the author want readers to take away after reading the book

The lesson here is very simple. But it is striking how often it is overlooked. We are so caught in the myths of the best and the brightest and the self-made that we think outliers spring naturally from the earth. Success is all about the opportunities, and if every kid had them the world could be so much richer than the world we have settled for. People just need a chance.

what are the implications of systems that are skewed based on relative age?

The most Successful people are the ones born very soon after the cutoff date, meaning they are the most physically or mature for their age group.

Why is Canadian hockey a meritocracy?

The most talented get put in the best leagues and the best leagues get the best coaches and more training so they are more successful.

What is the purpose of Alexander Bickel's story?

The purpose is to compare the similarities of both Bickel and Floms upbringings because how they grew up was so identical, but Flom became successful while Bickel did not. This shows that opportunities play a big role in becoming successful. Flom had opportunities that Bickel did not, allowing him to become more successful than Bickel

Sociologist Annette Lareau extensively observed families from diverse backgrounds. What were her findings on parenting styles?

The wealthier raise their kids one way, and the poorer parents raised their kids another way. Wealthier parents are involved in their children's free time, shuttling them from one activity to the next, while the poorer are less involved on average.

In what ways were the "old-line law firms of New York" exclusive?

They operated like private clubs- the partners at the top firms graduated from the same Ivy League schools, attended the same churches, and summered in the same oceanside towns in Long Island

what pattern can be found in the 2007 player roster of the medicine hat tigers?

They were mostly all born in Jan, Feb or March.

How did Wolf explain the healthiness of the Rosetans?

They were outliers (medically & geographically speaking there was no logical explanation the only explanation) *The only explanation for their health was their culture

What advantages did people born in the "demographic trough" during the 1930s have that the other generations did not?

This generation was smaller than both the generation that preceded it and the generation that immediately followed it. This allowed for more opportunities in school like having more time with teachers, more room in class, & more playing time in sports. Then they hit the job market and the entries are low and the demand is high.

why does gladwell provide detailed descriptions of the cumberland plateau?

This is the setting of the story; to give better understanding of what the town Harlan was about

What do Ericsson's results indicate about talent?

Those who work the hardest and put in the most time seem to be the most talented. They never found any "naturals," musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while not practicing as much as their peers.

How well does Gladwell's theory work?

Very well—Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Bill Joy, Scott McNealy, Vinod Khosla, and Andy Bechtolsheim were all born between 1953-1956

How do Gord Wasden's comments about his son, a player of the medicine hat tigers, reinforce gladwells argument?

Wasden's son was born within 4 days of the absolute perfect birthday for an elite hockey player.