Compare And Contrast Gladwell And David Epstein

Destiny controls all life. Some think that to be true. Yet others put that claim to the

test by bringing science and philosophy into the matter. David Epstein and Malcolm

Gladwell argue in their works that Destiny is fixed. Gladwell brought up many great

points on the subject that make an excellent justification of the main idea. Using

famous prodigies versus average people, he shows the difference between natural

talent and the idea that intense practice makes a champion.

David Epstein explains his thoughts on the matter in his book, The Sports Gene,

using the inspiring story of a basketball player turned high jumper. Epstein tells the

tale of a basketball player, Donald Thomas, who discovers his extraordinary achilles

Epstein’s whole story proves that one can

technically be born into talent, a strike against his claim is that not everyone is born

that way and just because a person is, does not automatically guarantee becoming an

all star. Masaki Ishikawa, scientist at the Neuromuscular Research Center, says

“[Thomas’ tendon]...at ten and a quarter inches, was uncharacteristically long

for an athlete his height(Epstein ❡13).” Proving that the tendon is what gave him the ability to jump as high as he did. It was not choice, it was genes.

Gladwell’s simple rationalization makes a clear claim. He had taken psychologist’s studies

of how much a person practices an art versus a person who isn’t that great and works less. The

studies included 3 groups of kids who played the violin all the time and those who played some

of the time. Studies had shown that with extra work came better results, sadly a relatively little

known fact in this generation. “...students who would end up the best in their class began to

practice more than everyone else [ At a younger age]…(Gladwell ❡3).” Talent does not come

naturally, one should practice to become better, it might be that an individual has