So it seems that at this point, we've all finished the book. Any last words about the ending? I found the last chapter quite surprising to read, about Gladwell's grandmother growing up in Jamaica, and how her two daughters ended up going to college with the luck of getting scholarships. Remember the chapter about how if a person worked diligently in a family business as a clothing designer, it was very likely for his or her grandchildren to be lawyers or doctors? I found that there was a bit of a connection between the two stories. It's interesting how Gladwell's grandmother and grandfather were school teachers in a church in Jamaica, (here's a picture of the church, probably pretty small inside for classes) and through a series of extremely fortunate events, Gladwell's mother was able to get a higher education and could give himself a chance at success as well, as a writer.I guess at this point we can move on to individual free reading, unless you guys want to continue as a group with a new book.
Honestly, I was pretty apathetic to the last section of the book. It was basically a repetition of the same concept of "you need to have lucky opportunities to be successful" stated over and over throughout the book except with a new sheen of race in Jamaica. If the book had ended the chapter before with a stronger conclusion, it would have probably been just as effective.
ReplyDeleteAll the book has really taught me is that I will never be successful unless I come from a certain cultural environment in the right time or invest my time into the right field right before it booms with growth or am born to a rich enough family. It frustrates me that, despite how intelligent and hard-working I try to be, I may not ever find my name in the annals of history unless fortune smiles very kindly upon me. I will still be successful in my own way, of course, but in a sense I have diminished my dreams to the barest and most practical means to a comfortable lifestyle because I am not certain to find that opportunity that would make me an outlier. A bit pessimistic, I know, but I don't really care.
As for the free reading, I vote that we move towards individual books, as that would probably be the most painless for most of us. Unless you all want to read some military science fiction with me....
I'm sorry that the book gave you an impact like that... I guess it's more of a book to read without trying to make personal connections, since the stories Gladwell told took place in various eras of the past century and seem to be more of celebrating the luck that certain people found rather than explaining why certain people nowadays are failing while others are doing surprisingly well.
ReplyDeleteMy band teacher, Mr. Fioravanti, recommended this book to me and the jazz ensemble multiple times, and that's why I decided it would be interesting to read. The main lesson that I think we all can get from Outliers is the 10,000 hour rule. (Which is what Mr. F. kept telling us about. If we practice our instruments as much as possible, we'll do better. That's the lesson he tried to give us.) All of the stories about being born in the right month or the right year, or living in the right city at the right time, are entirely by chance. Things like that could happen to anyone in the next few decades, possibly even to one of us. But the one main thing that we can actually manipulate is the 10,000 hour rule. If you study a foreign language for that long, you'll be quite close to fluent. If you write stories or novels for that long, you'll have a greater chance at being a proficient writer. Additionally, I never knew about any of the people Gladwell discussed, and now I can make more references to real life situations.
Individual free reading it is. I've got several books in my bookshelf I've wanted to read for a while, and I doubt they'd be easy to find in bookstores. Well, see you all next year! I hope you enjoy the rest of your free reading!
Matt I have to say I found that a little depressing and I'm sorry you feel that way, although the idea that you may be less successful than someone not because they were more naturally gifted, but because they had a library or sports field next to their house is pretty sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Naty, maybe you can't control what circumstances your put in, but you can pick and choose how much effort you want to put into something. Gladwell made it clear that practice can outshine whatever innate ability someone was born with. I see that as something anyone can use to motivate themselves for the rest for their life: If you want to get better at something, go do it! Remember that book!
I second that idea Michael. :) Gladwell never told a story about failure, but rather he showed the multiple ways to achieve success. Sure, most of them are about fortunate opportunities, but that shows that in the future, anyone could find an opportunity like that. And if not, it's not the end of the world. Just strive for success!
ReplyDeleteYES MATT I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND YOU. I mean yeah i know we aren't supposed to really take this stuff personally because obviously most of it is by chance but if you really are striving for success and wanting to make it far in life, especially since at this point in my life I have started looking at colleges and what careers I plan on following, it is hard not to get discouraged. This is just my opinion but I took the book as more of a pessimistic thing telling us that we have to be lucky and almost discouraging the whole "American Dream" idea where if you work hard then you will become successful, no matter what social class you happen to be born in. I really enjoyed this book, it is just rather discouraging, as Matt said
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