Just thought I'd share this video clip with you all from The Colbert Report. Gladwell definitely is an interesting person. He even admits that he isn't an outlier like those he describes in his book.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/210677/november-17-2008/malcolm-gladwell
Naty I really enjoyed this video. I like that there was no other real explanation for success other than luck. at least that's what I got out of it. As Gladwell said one of Bill Gates biggest contributions to success happened when he was 13 and it was by pure luck.
ReplyDeletep.s. Naty please add me as a contributor! thank you!
As he said in the book, success is partly from chance and partly from dedication, and it's very true!
ReplyDeleteI added your school account as an author since I don't have your personal email.
I went and heard Gladwell speak a few weeks ago in Hartford. He's even more engaging in person. I don't think he is as simplistic in his argument as luck being the main indicator of success.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read so far, he's used many specific examples to show how our perspective of success is in fact completely wrong. In chapter 2, section 6, he made it clear that the year that a person is born can have a great impact on the chances of success. Being born around the year 1955 is perfect for a future computer programmer, such as Bill Joy and Bill Gates, since by the time they were in high school, the computer was still a brand new concept and was open for improvements. If they were in college already by that time, they would've been settled already and wouldn't be interested in it, but if they were too young, they wouldn't be able to fully grasp the concept. The circumstances for where a person lives and when they were born play a major role in whether a person will become successful.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm reading the aptitude section, and it's quite interesting that once a person's IQ is above 140, it doesn't matter as much how high the number is. Anyone above that minimum score has an equal chance at getting, for example, a Nobel Prize. There are so many different reasons why a person was able to become successful, it's a lot more than just chance, although that does play a role too.