In the novel Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell states the important factors that were taken into account of people’s lives. In the beginning of the novel, I was very intrigued with the facts Gladwell was pointing out. One of which was the age of successful people such as Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates. Gladwell explains that age is an important factor to people’s success because of how old they are when introduced to technology and things that interest them. For example, Bill Gates was born in 1955, and because of his birthday, he was not too old or too young when he was introduced to computers. Gladwell states: “The perfect age to be in 1975.. Is old enough to be part of the coming revolution but not so old that you missed it”. (65). This fact opened my mind a lot because I didn’t realize how important age was, and still is. Referring back to the first chapter when Gladwell spoke about hockey players and their birthdays, it is very important when people are born because it ultimately determines their success. I find it very interesting and unfair that most people’s success is determined by their age, for example education takes age into consideration. Gladwell stated that due to student’s birthdays, they are not given the same opportunities as others if they’re too young. I’ve witnessed this in many instances, for example people whose birthdays are towards the end of the year had to be held back a year which prohibited them from being as intelligent or experienced as their generation. I don’t believe that age should be what determines someone’s success, it should ultimately be determined by their skills and their hard work that they put in. I found it very interesting that successful people that we know of were all born in the same year, and it’s fascinating to see how those people are successful because of their age.
Gladwell's observation about a person's birthdate and his or her chances at succeeding in particular fields is very intriguing. I admit, the fact that there are some factors of our ability to be successful that we cannot control is daunting and discouraging; however, there is no point in complaining about the intractable. Instead, we should follow Gladwell's advise: to work hard and be patient, especially pursue the 10,000 hour rule for whatever we're passionate about. If people were aware of this phenomenon, then they would be more willing to work hard and not let the older, or more appropriately aged peers get a head start.
ReplyDeleteI also found the fact that age is a factor to success interesting. Gladwell makes a point that older children have a certain advantage, over their younger peers because they are more prepared and mature. We live in a society that values and rewards success at a young age, which enables one with many opportunities to succeed. This would no longer occur if we did not favor an individual, who although is older and already signaling success, but rather skills and knowledge. Gladwell suggests, that waiting until all children are at the same maturity level, is a good time to begin separating children who show individual success. I agree with Gladwell's suggestion because it would allow all children to have an equal chance at success, and would not favor a child because of their age. However, the system that Gladwell suggests is unlikely to occur because age has been a factor of success in society for many years, and some would be opposed to this new idea.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm Gladwell really blew my mind when he made a connection between age and success. This was introduced in the beginning of the book when he made the connection between age and hockey players success. This idea made sense too me because it often happens to children when they are first starting school. Though some children may be born in the same year, if one has a birthday earlier in the year, they have a better opportunity at starting school earlier than one who has a birthday later in the year
ReplyDeleteMalcolm Gladwell really blew my mind when he made a connection between age and success. This was introduced in the beginning of the book when he made the connection between age and hockey players success. This idea made sense too me because it often happens to children when they are first starting school. Though some children may be born in the same year, if one has a birthday earlier in the year, they have a better opportunity at starting school earlier than one who has a birthday later in the year
ReplyDeleteIt also seemed unfair to me that age defines your success. I found it quite interesting that the specific time in which a person was born in can have a direct affect on the opportunities he/she is given. This idea is so crazy to me because things like this are things that we can't control. I didn't really know that age can play such a major role in how successful one becomes. However, Gladwell does state that even if one isn't born with innate talent that doesn't necessarily mean they can't be successful, with practice and determination being successful is possible as well
ReplyDelete