Guided Reading Questions: The Outliers Introduction “The Roseto Mystery”: 1. What is the Roseto Mystery? What overarching idea is Gladwell establishing in his introduction? The author in the novel explains the concept of the Roseto Mystery to be a phenomenal time in history. During the 1950’s where the leading cause of death in the United States was a heart attack in men under the age of 65, In Roseto the remarkable discovery was that you “rarely [found] anyone from Roseto under the age of sixty-five with heart disease. ” (6) The investigation to discover ow this could be possible concluded that it was not diet nor genes or anything along those lines but it was because,” The Rosetans were healthy because of where they were from, because of the world they had created for themselves in their tiny little town in the hills. ” (9)
With this, the author, Malcolm Gladwell, establishes the concept that what and who we surround ourselves with depict and effect who we are as an individual. He explains this in detail stating that,”They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and he people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are. ” (11) Chapter One “The Matthew Effect: 2. Explain the author’s viewpoint regarding “The Story of Success”. Are personal qualities the sole reason one becomes an outlier? Malcolm Gladwell strongly addresses the idea that,” hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies,”(19) are the essential aspects that lead to becoming a successful individual.
In Canada for instance, hockey coaches,”are more likely to view as talented the bigger and more coordinated players, who have the benefit of critical extra onths of maturity. ” (24) which has nothing to do with personal qualities but their advantage of being born in the early months of the year. Therefore, the opportunity they were given caused them to become successful outliers in society. Another example would be in the educational system where,” if you take two intellectually equivalent fourth graders with birthdays at opposite ends of the cutoff date, the older student could score in the eightieth percentile, while the younger one could score in the sixty-eighth percentile. “(28)
This study further supports the dea that being born earlier in the year becomes an advantage in becoming successful regardless of personal qualities. 3. What is the consequence of “prematurely writing people off as failures”? Creating an environment where people are written off as failures if they do not meet certain standards creates,”patterns of achievement and underachievement, encouragement and discouragement, that stretch on and on for years. “(28) Therefore this creates a cycle of constant negativity with those who are given less attention because society is,” far too dismissive of those who fail. (32-33) This creates long term effects that could lead to constant failure in that individuals life because they were told from a young age that they were not good enough for certain things. Chapter Two “The 10,000-Hour Rule”: 4. Explain the 10,000-Hour Rule.
The 10,000-Hour Rule states that,”.. ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert. “(40) Daniel Levitin, a neurologist who explains the concept of the 10,000-Hour Rule, goes on to assume that,”it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it eeds to know to achieve true mastery. “(40) Therefore, the concept of the 10,000-Hour Rule outlines how much it actually takes to reach an exceptional level of expertise and how the brain contributes to this supposed idea. 5. 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. Bill Joy, The Beatles, and Bill Gates are three solid examples that display the philosophy,” practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good.
It’s the thing you do that makes you good. ” Bill Joy for instance, practiced by,” programming eight or ten hours a day.. [and] at Berkeley [he] was doing it day and night. ” (46) The hours he accumulated while practicing lead to his phenomenal success in computer science. The Beatles, who also support the statement, made a big hit in the United States in 1964. The Beatles were just a couple of four guys who did not put much practice into their music, however upon arriving to the United States things changed dramatically for them, “In Liverpool, [they’d] only ever done one-hour sessions..
In Hamburg, [they] had to play for eight hours... “(49) Constantly practicing on their music lead them to have such a huge success in the United States and later become a worldwide hit. In the novel, Malcolm Gladwell quotes someone by stating that The Beatles,” were no good onstage when they went there and they were very good when they came back. “(50) Which yet again proves the philosophy mentioned earlier that practice leads to better results. Another example would be the story of how Bill Gates gained success. He was fortunate enough to gain the, “opportunity to learn programming on a time-share system as a reshman in college.. “(51) From that point forward, he gradually accumulated enough practice that prepared him for opportunities like working with companies like TRW. We must however take into consideration that they already started off as talented, what they lacked was the the opportunities they needed to encounter their skills and build upon them. Over the course of their careers they took on opportunities that were presented to them. Chapter Three “The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1″
6. Describe the difference between ‘divergence testing’ and ‘convergence testing’. Is one more significant than the other? The key difference in divergence and convergence testing is that divergence testing requires one’s creativity whereas convergence testing provides a more limited approach in the thought process. Divergence testing entails one to,” use [their] imagination and take [their] mind in as many different directions as possible. “(87) In other words, it stimulates one to actually analyze a certain topic and develop different solutions for it. Convergence testing on the other hand,” asks you to sort through a list of possibilities and converge on the right nswer. “(86) This technique actually gives you the solution and you would have to select the correct one from a finite number of choices. The distinct difference here is that one requires an open minded mindset whereas the other one provides a more limited challenge.
7. Gladwell states that communities and companies in American society “are convinced that those at the very top of the lQ scale have the greatest potential. ” After reading the chapter, explain why you either agree or disagree with this statement. After reading the chapter, The Trouble With Geniuses, Part 1, I would have to agree that communities and companies are often convinced that those with the highest IQ levels are bound to have the greatest potential. Much of society seems to have this assumption that someone who is exceptionally smart will have a higher chance of becoming successful. In today’s modern world,” Schools have programs for the “gifted”. Elite universities often require that students take an intelligence test for admission. ” This proves the theory that the world believes higher IQ levels automatically relate to success and a higher potential in reaching it.
