Research Papers On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

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In Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, the narrator attempts to change the reader’s perspective in life and tries to make them wonder the reasons for situations, events, and why things happen. In his book, Gladwell explains that it is not only talent that ensures success, but that timing and luck play a part as well. He says that “researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.” He also says that most of an individual’s success is determined by factors out of their control, as shown by Bill Gates’ becoming a computer genius and making billions. Gladwell believes this happened not because of Gate’s extraordinary talents and skill, but “because he was one of the only teenagers in America who attended a high school with a computer club, where he could put in these thousand hours.” However, many question …show more content…

The definition of an outlier is someone who stands apart from others of his or her group, as by differing behavior, beliefs, or religious practices. Gladwell’s novel revolves around the idea that being an outlier can be beneficial to one’s potential prosperity. Gladwell’s theory checked out when a Canadian psychologist named Roger Barnsley discovered relative age when he and his wife attended a Medicine Hat Tigers hockey game. While looking at the roster, they realized that a majority of the player’s birthdays were in January, February, and March. They then researched other hockey teams and found the same pattern, even for teams with young children. There is a simple answer for this bizarre encounter, which is that Canada’s “eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is January 1.” This is so the players are as coordinated and mature as possible. The Czech National Junior soccer team is organized very similarly. In this situation, the outliers, which would be those born in particular months, are