Success Is a Process: Why Gladwell’s Position in “Outliers” is Valid
Being unique is hard, but standing out may be worth the effort. Malcolm Gladwell’s non-fiction book, “Outliers” attempts to identify common threads that exist between successful people who might be characterized as outliers. The term “outlier” in science refers to a situation in which a number might not match up with other numbers in a set of data. In the book, Gladwell applies the term “outlier” to people who are “invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot”(Gladwell). An outlier mixes his or her natural talent along with timing, place, social status, culture, parents, environment, and other small factors to have a strong disposition to succeed. According to Gladwell, “success is the result of what sociologists like to call ‘accumulative advantage”(Gladwell). While not all people who
…show more content…
Critics of Gladwell’s writing take his ideas personally, and are offended when he says that some things are out of people’s control. The critics use Gladwell as a scapegoat so they can spend their time critiquing his tactics instead of examining their own failures. Although Gladwell’s theories can be difficult to hear, they are still very accurate. Outliers are called outliers because they stand out from everyone. All people can be unique, but if all people were outliers, than no one would be. Environments and growing up have the largest impact on people because not everyone can live in one place, and no few people and raise the entire human population of earth. Outliers will always come out of different scenarios than the average person, and will have a higher chance to succeed. Yes, life is not fair, but Gladwell is just explaining the truth, not creating the