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Measuring Success In Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers'

639 Words3 Pages

Joe Ramirez
J.West
ENGL 1301.M1
22 September 2017
Outliers Geniuses
In 2008, journalist Malcolm Gladwell published the book “Outliers” a best-selling book about how we measure success as a society. In the book Gladwell discusses the different ways we measure success and touches upon common misconceptions regarding the matter of how society comprehends success. One chapter entitled “The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1” highlights the contrast between success and Intelligence quotient, this chapter really intrigued me because Gladwell makes valid points in arguing about how a high IQ does not automatically equal success and backs up his argument by giving examples. Although some may argue that success measured through intelligence many others like Malcolm Gladwell would think otherwise since every person measures success differently in society.
In this section of the book Malcolm Gladwell first backs up his argument by discussing the life of Chris Langan. Starting at young age Langan learned to speak at six months old, throughout his life he was always a prodigy due to his intelligence. As he became older he was able to present his ideas in such a self-assured matter, speak intelligently and become confident in speaking with others. Since he was a …show more content…

In order to explain this more Gladwell gives an example that relies on the study that took place at the University of Michigan Law school. The university conducted an experiment on their students who earned lower grades and compared their success rate to those who would earn exceptionally high grades. After they graduated and started their careers studies showed that the students who didn't earn high grades had an equal success rate to those who earned high

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