The Outliers Gladwell Analysis

“Success is the result of what sociologist call accumulative advantage” (Gladwell 30).”This plays a role in the story as the author constantly tries to define how certain individuals are more successful than others. Throughout the outliers, Gladwell attempts to question how success is made from Asians having a higher intelligence in math, to the months of successful hockey players, and how certain individuals succeed without studying. By unwilling to know why these people have certain advantages, the author digs deep by providing reliable explanations.

The most successful hockey players and baseball players tend to be the ones who were born in a certain month. However, as much as Gladwell agrees with this, he provides the explanation …show more content…
Gladwell explains this by stating “ The cutoff date for almost non school baseball leagues in the United States is July 31, with the result that more major league players are born in August than any other month” (26). This further proves the main idea on how the cutoff age is the primary reason of success depending on the month players are born in. Overall, the author expresses on how a month does not determine people's success, but the cutoff age shows how they are coached more. As Gladwell states, “ if you provide the “talented” with a superior experience, then you’re going to end up giving a huge advantage to that small group of people born closest to the cutoff date (24). To end off, the success from baseball players and hockey players month is the fact of how much they are coached versed …show more content…
Lastly, Rice paddies are a great example of how countries such as Singapore, South Korea, China etc can excel in math. One of the key components to do well in math is to try according to Gladwell. Rice paddies are a symbolism of discipline as the author explains the process of putting complex dikes around the field, putting layers of mud on top of the clay, repeatedly fertilized etc. This connects with math as there can be a constant amount of steps to solve a complex problem with no easy way around it. Overall, unlike the U.S, countries like Asia in the western area tend to work harder and not find the easy way which the rice paddy was representing.

Grades and IQ’s in this society determine whether or not a person is smart. Chris Langan, who was considered the smartest man in the United States, managed to not complete college and also grew up in a society with his dad gone and many relatives committing suicide. However, Chris Langan was still considered a genius as he got a perfect score on the Sat, lecture classes at teachers discretion, and spoke at about 6 months old. When the 1 vs 100 host asked how Chris Langan was smart, he replied that people have to specialize in deep thoughts. This compares to Miss Hammitt's expectations as she drastically gets her students to participate with sophisticated reasoning. Overall, people do not have to be born

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Outliers Gladwell Analysis