The Outliers

What is the difference between "concerted cultivation" and "accomplishment of natural growth"?

Concerted cultivation is when one from the middle class was granted this sense of entitlement which helped them get around in life which he realized after his study in which he told the families he observed to treat him like the family dog. Accomplishment of natural growth is how the parents treat their children in a particular lower class or people known as less fortunate or poor.

Describe the difference between 'divergence testing' and 'convergence testing'. Is one more significant than the other?

Divergence testing is testing your imaginative knowledge while convergence testing is the ¨Raven's test¨ which gives the student multiple choice responses to a single question. One has an exact answer while in another the answers vary. There isn't one that is more significant as the other as the tests are testing different things. People will argue that one is more important but they give equally good information about someone

What is Gladwell explaining about the importance of communication?

Gladwell is explaining that everyone needs to speak up what they think and their opinions as if something is going wrong then there's room for improvement and everyone is not going to have the same knowledge so if you know something then you have to speak up. For example, in the Korean air lines people didn't speak up which was a factor that led to the crash.

Explain what Gladwell means when he states, "that is the story of my mother's path to success- and it isn't true."

Gladwell means that his mother's story to success is false as on the road to succeeding she only included the prideful moments and successful parts rather than including the opportunities she had.

What does Gladwell mean when he states, "the outlier in the end is not an outlier at all"?

Gladwell meant that we all are just normal people yet some of us were given an advantage and opportunities which set them superior but in the end we're all the same.

Gladwell states that communities and companies in American society "are convinced that those at the very top of the IQ scale have the greatest potential." After reading the chapter, explain why you either agree or disagree with this statement.

I disagree with this statement as your IQ doesn't determine if you will succeed or not as social qualities are needed in order to be well rounded which will help one succeed. Also opportunity is needed for one to be able to succeed as someone can have a very high IQ but if they weren't born into the best environment then their chances of being successful are fairly low.

Explain Gladwell's statement as it relates to Joe Flom: "Buried in that setback was a golden opportunity."

Joe Flom was accepted into bigger law firms which was seen as a set back but this led him to creating a small law firm with a group of people which ended up being successful which was his ¨golden opportunity.¨

After reading this section of the book, have your opinions changed about math classes and math ability? Explain why or why not.

No because yes, I see where the author is getting from but personally I have never had any trouble with math and I have always believed it was easy with reading fractions in the way Asians do. I have also known plenty of people who would agree with me as I take math classes with these people. I believe everyone has different talents and skills in this aspect that could be passed down through your DNA which can be why Asians tend to do good at math.

What is the consequence of "prematurely writing people off as failures"?

People who are from ¨prematurely writing people off as failures¨ are known as people who are destined to fail at succeeding. The consequence of this is that many people will be overlooked who could really succeed and they wont get as much practice which will give them a lower chance of succeeding

Explain the 10,000 hour rule

The 10,000 rule is the rule that one must practice nearly 10,000 hours to achieve success. The author explains this through Bill Gates as he would come to the library to play with the computer day and night and by doing so he was able to be the founder of microsoft. The author includes how this theory has been proven several times as he included successful people saying that they approximately practiced for 10,000 hours before they achieved success.

Explain the author's viewpoint regarding "The Story of Success". Are personal qualities the sole reason one becomes an outlier?

The author explains how outliers are people who have different backgrounds, qualities, maturity, age, etc. Eh doesn't explain personal qualities as the sole reason one becomes an outlier as sure it plays a role but the sole reason one becomes an outlier is opportunity and sometimes even maturity at a young age. The author explains how one isn't born a varsity sports player as they have to work at it but they also need talent to really succeed.

Describes the connection between the "10,000 hour rule" and the wet rice farmers in Asia.

The connection between the wet rice farmers in Asia and the 10,000 rule is that the farmers would have to work for hours every day in the farm which enhanced their mathematical ability as they had come to work 10,000 hours and farming with altitude have to do with math.

What are the "cultural legacies" as described in this chapter? Why are they significant to understand when dealing with people?

The cultural legacies described are how much something affects someone, anger, and behavior. For example, in certain parts of the world there are people who either shrug problems off like the northerners or people who are easily vulnerable to anger like the people from the south. These are significant to understand when dealing with people as you wouldn't want to do something that you know would result in bad behavior or acts towards you. The author finds this through his experiment with saying bad words to someone as they passed by in an office.

Describe the "culture of honor" that exists in the Appalachian mountains.

The culture of honor that exists in the Appalachian mountains means that a man or woman's ego/reputation is of great importance and is a sole factor in making his self worth.

Compare and contrast Langan and Oppenheimer.

The differences between Oppenheimer and Langan is that when Oppenheimer was faced with having to explain his murder of his tutor and why he should still be accepted into the school he one the argument due to his ¨savvy¨ characteristic while Langan couldn't find his way out of things like that. He had to leave his scholarship behind due to his recurrent tardies. These two men are similar in the way that they are both highly intelligent men but one succeeded more than the other.

What is the Roseto Mystery? What overarching idea is Gladwell establishing in his introduction?

The neighboring communities of the town in Roseto, Pennsylvania were intrigued to hear that the people of Roseto had a low rate of heart disease while other communities were challenged by the recurring issue of dying younger due to heart disease which the physician Steward Wolf found. Doctors tested this finding and could find no reasonable proof which developed it to be known as the ¨Roseto Mystery.¨ The idea that Gladwell is establishing in his introduction is that these people came from Italy and had advantages that other people in Pennsylvania and this leaves the reader asking questions about why that might be. The author will then go on to explain how people have opportunities in life and advantages which helps cause this so the introductions helps evoke thought and curiosity out of the reader.

Describe the significance of summer vacation as it relates to different groups of students. Why is this significant?

The significance of summer vacation to different students is whether or not they retain knowledge or not. For people who are more rich over the summer they will have a variety of different things they do in the summer which helps the brain in retaining the knowledge they learned from the past year while someone who is poorer will have less brain activity so they will lose the knowledge they have learned from class. This is significant as this gives those with more money a higher opportunity.

Consider the following: "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good." Explain how this philosophy was at work for Bill Joy, The Beatles, and Bill Gates.

This philosophy was at work with Bill Joy as he spent 10,00 hours working in the computer center of the University of Michigan before he became a well known software developer. When it came to the Beatles they also spent 10,000 hours working at their band as they started out just singing in a basement and at bars where they weren't as good as they were today. Also, when it came to Bill Gates he spent c10,00 hours practicing with the computer as the mothers of his eighth grade class would form a fundraiser and give the money to one program in which they gave it to this software.

Gladwell states "success follows a predictable course." How does this quote apply to Marita? How does this apply to you?

This quote applies to Marita as she will succeed because she will continue to practice that material she learned which will help her succeed which by doing so she is following a course that outliers take with opportunity. This applies to me when it comes to the fact that i'm still a student so I can do what she's doing during the break to better my chances on succeeding.

Consider the following quote: "Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning." Explain how this quote relates to the chapter.

This sentence relates to this chapter in the way that the Borgenichts were only successful for the reasoning that their work was meaningful. Although they had to go through a lot of pain and labor like you would have to do in prison to achieve their success. If they weren't passionate then they would continue this hard work which would be like being in a prison sentence as they wouldn't succeed on his path to selling clothing.

Describe the significance of the "willingness to change" as it relates to Korean Air.

Willingness to change is explained in the Korean air as when something was going wrong while flying some who knew what was happening but didn't feel as though they had the authority to say something would be very passive of their opinions or stay silent while someone else would be assertive and say their opinion which could have been wrong.