...Critical Analysis Essay In reading “The Trouble with Geniuses Part 1 and 2”, Malcolm Gladwell has presented his purpose and a strong argument to the fact that talent can only lay the foundation for a person to succeed in life. The talent that is continuously discussed in this reading is a persons IQ, or Intelligence Quotient. A man named Christopher Langan is discussed throughout both chapters and is a clear example of a person with extreme IQ. Although Langan demonstrates a superior IQ, he never reached his true potential. Gladwell maintains that intelligence, even extreme intelligence, has a threshold. Having a high IQ is an advantage, but being smarter than others does not automatically make one more successful. “The relationship between success and IQ works only up to a point” (79). A person not only has to be smart enough but when you factor in opportunities that are taken full advantage of, that person’s success greatly increases. Gladwell further proves his point in these chapters when he explains a study done by Lewis Terman. Terman performed standardized IQ testing for geniuses and attempted to demonstrate that a person who showed a genius IQ rating would clearly determine the success of that individual. Terman’s results between Group’s A, B, and C reemphasized Gladwell’s point that mere intelligence is not the sole identifier that leads to a person’s success. Terman concluded, with more than a touch of disappointment, “that intellect and achievement are far from...
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...The debate of “How to become successful? ” is one of the core questions every person and every parents in this society has been curious of since the dawn of human civilization. Malcolm Gladwell's chapter two and three, “The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1 and 2”, of his best selling book “Outliers” tries to further justify his idea that there are various unseen factors are at play that can determine if a person becomes successful or not in his life. With these chapters, he takes a deeper look into “The Matthew Effect” with the help of two so called geniuses Christopher Langan and Robert Oppenheimer. Much like previous chapters “The Matthew Effect” and “ 10,000 Hour Rule” , Gladwell's ideas can be considered fairly paradoxical even to this day. Like what Gladwell says, today's society still believes that a high IQ level or the status Geniuses is a sure way a person achieves fame, wealth and success. To dis-spell this general view, he compares each Christopher Langan and Robert Oppenheimer's lives from birth to adulthood and how each of them differentiate from their family background, how they were raised, what they expect of the society and an authoritative figure, how they they dealt with any obstacles....
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...Critical Analysis Essay I believe Gladwell’s purpose for writing “The Trouble with Geniuses” was to help people understand that those with an extremely high IQ do not necessarily end up being the most successful in life, intelligence does not equal achievement. In order to be successful in life, people need not only intelligence, but to have a good support system beginning at an early age, the ability to interact and communicate with others effectively and to have a higher socioeconomic status. A person’s family background has more to do with success than originally realized. In my opinion, Gladwell’s audience is anyone in the general public who is interested in success, ways how to obtain it and how others went about obtaining it. Not only would this apply to people in the workforce, but also people in school or individuals trying to master a craft. A lot of people go through life wondering why or how certain people achieve things they were not able to. While this book is not a step-by-step approach, it does point out some of the important personality and character traits several highly successful people have, how they have used every opportunity afforded them to the fullest extent and how they continually practiced their craft to become the best they could. The author uses several approaches to address his readers. One of these approaches is using pronouns such as you, we, I and me. By using statements like “Let me give you an example of . . ” (Gladwell 84) makes you feel...
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...unusual applications of research in social phenomena. Since a young age, Gladwell has been an ambitious person. His childhood spent wandering around the university where his father taught sparked Gladwell’s passion for reading and discovery. After graduating from college, Gladwell desired to become a journalist or writer, stating that he wanted to “mine current academic research for insights, theories, direction, or inspiration.” Up until now, Gladwell has authored five books. The reason for his writing is due to his two interests: his enthusiasm for collecting...
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...Success is a result that we all always wonder how rock stars, world class athletes, or billionaires obtain it. But the question here is: How are these people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and others get there? What they have is something that psychologist like Robert Steinberg call practical intelligence. This type of intelligence is about knowing how to do something without having to provide an elaboration for it. It is addressed in the book “The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2, Chapter 4” by the Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell that success and achievement are accomplished through this sort of intelligence. One can argue that, based on the text, Gladwell has an intriguing and conceivable claim; however, he could improve some miniscule...
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...Outliers THE S T O R Y OF S U C C E S S MALCOLM G LAD W E L L # 1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point and Blink $27.99 $ 3 0 . 9 9 in C a n a d a Why d o s o m e p e o p l e succeed far more than others? T h e r e is a story that is usually told a b o u t extremely successful p e o p l e , a story that focuses o n intelligence a n d ambition. In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell a r g u e s that the true story o f s u c c e s s is very different, a n d that if we want to u n d e r s t a n d h o w s o m e p e o p l e thrive, we s h o u l d s p e n d m o r e time l o o k i n g around them — at s u c h things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth d a t e . T h e story o f s u c c e s s is m o r e c o m p l e x — a n d a lot m o r e interesting — than it initially a p p e a r s . Outliers e x p l a i n s w h a t the B e a t l e s a n d Bill G a t e s have in c o m m o n , the e x t r a o r d i n a r y s u c c e s s o f A s i a n s at m a t h , the h i d d e n a d v a n t a g e s o f star athletes, why all t o p N e w York lawyers have the s a m e r é s u m é , a n d the r e a s o n y o u ' v e never h e a r d o f the w o r l d ' s s m a r t e s t m a n — all in terms o f g e n eration, family, c u l t u r e , a n d c l a s s . It matters w h a t year y o u were b o r n if y o u want to b e a S i l i c o n Valley billionaire, G l a d w e l l a r g u e s , a n d it matters w h e r e y o u w e r e b o r n if y o u want to b e a s u c cessful p i l o t . T...
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...THE B L A C K SWAN The HIGHLY I mpact IM of the PROBABLE Nassim Nicholas Taleb U.S.A. $26.95 Canada $34.95 is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpre dictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9 / 1 1 . For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. A BLACK SWAN Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate oppor tunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the "impossible." For years, Taleb has studied how we fool our selves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this reve latory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don't know. He offers...
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...Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heath, Chip. Made to stick : why some ideas survive and others die / Chip Heath & Dan Heath p. cm. Includes index. eISBN: 978-1-58836-596-5 1. Social psychology. 2. Contagion (Social psychology). 3. Context effects (Psychology). I. Heath, Dan. II. Title. HM1033.H43 2007 302'.13—dc22 2006046467 www.atrandom.com Designed by Stephanie Huntwork v1.0 To Dad, for driving an old tan Chevette while putting us through college. To Mom, for making us breakfast every day for eighteen years. Each. C O N T E N T S INTRODUCTION WHAT STICKS? 3 Kidney heist. Movie popcorn. Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior. Halloween candy. Six principles: SUCCESs. The villain: Curse of Knowledge. It’s hard to be a tapper. Creativity starts with templates. CHAPTER 1 SIMPLE 25 Commander’s Intent. THE low-fare airline. Burying the lead and the inverted pyramid. It’s the economy, stupid. Decision paralysis. Clinic: Sun exposure. Names, names, and names. Simple = core + compact. Proverbs. The Palm Pilot wood block. Using what’s there. The pomelo schema. High concept: Jaws on a spaceship. Generative analogies: Disney’s “cast members.” CHAPTER 2 UNEXPECTED 63 The successful flight safety announcement. The surprise brow. Gimmicky surprise and...
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