Outliers Chapters 1-5 Questions and Answers Graded A

Outliers Chapters 1-5 Questions and Answers Graded A What is an outlier? A person, thing, or station that is different from others Explain Roseto Mystery The members of this tower were exceptionally healthy and mostly dying of old age. Very low rate of heart disease Why were the Rosetans healthy? Why does the explanation for the good health of Rosetans illustrated Durkheim's theory of suicide? The Rosetans were exceptionally healthy because of the structure of their society. People were taking time to talk to each other in the street and 3 generations in a house. The people were generally happy; therefore they were less likely to commit suicide. Durkheim's theory of suicide would say that unhappy people would commit suicide because they don't have a sense of community and they feel alone. Why should the medical establishment look beyond the individual to understand health? What do they need to understand? Because culture was a part of it. They would be unable to understand why they were healthier if they just focused on the individual. What is the "Matthew Effect"? "For unto everyone that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." -Matthew 25:29 What explains success in Canadian hockey? Skill along with their birthdate, the birthdate cutoff allowed those closer to the cutoff date to be more mature than those almost a year younger. Give three examples of outliers Rock Stars, business tycoons and big time software programmers How does Malcolm Gladwell try to convince us that personal explanations of success don't work? People don't rise from nothing. There are often hidden advantages. What was strange about the 2007 Medicine Hat Tigers player roster? They were all born in February What does the eligibility cutoff for age class hockey in Canada have to do with being a successful hockey player? Those who were born closer to the beginning of the allowed age were older and had more mature bodies. Being more mature they were able to perform better and move forward. Why is European soccer similar to Canadian hockey? The cutoff date is set up in a similar way. Why, according to Gladwell, are hockey players who make it to the professional level more talented than most of us? Success is the result of what sociologists call accumulative advantage. The professional hockey player starts out a little better than his peers. that little difference leads to an opportunity that makes the difference bigger leading to more and more opportunity until the player is a genuine outlier. He didn't start that way, he started being just a little bit better. How did sociologists Robert Merton explain the "Matthew Effect"? Success is the result of "accumulative advantage" What is the 10,000 hour rule? 10,000 hours of practice = mastery at whatever is practiced How long does it take to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert? Give two examples of someone who illustrated the 10,000 hour rule 10,000 hours, Bill Joy and the Beatles Why is it almost impossible to reach 10,000 hours of practice by the time you are a young adult? Why is it more difficult if you are born into poverty? You need to have resources, time and facilities Who is Bill Joy? What does his story illustrate? He programmed a lot at U of M (rewrote Java and a couple other languages) His story is an example of an extraordinary opportunity; he was in the right place at the right time. Why does the Beatles' Hamburg experience illustrate the 10,000 hour rule? They were able to practice in front of people for so long that they mastered it. What kinds of opportunities contributed to Billy Gates' success, according to Gladwell? Computer at his high school and being able to use computers Gladwell claims that the stories of hockey players, the Beatles, Bill Joy and Bill Gates provide a more complete picture of the path to success. What truly distinguishes their histories? Their extraordinary opportunities are what truly distinguishes their histories What did Gladwell's analysis of the 75 richest people in human history show? 14 are Americans born around the same time What explains the extraordinary wealth of the 20% of the richest people in human history that come from a single generation in the United States? What did C. Wright Mills observe about the special American cohort from the 1830s? They were all extraordinary thinkers, however they were born in the perfect time, able to capitalize on the extreme shift of the economy What does Chris Langan's story suggest about the intelligence and success They are not directly related. Intelligence does not objectively lead to success What mistake did Lewis Terman make in believing that talent was the most important factor in extraordinary achievement? It has more to do with the creativity and other skills after a certain level of IQ How smart do you have to be to win a Nobel Prize, according to Gladwell? Just above the threshold, no high IQ required What did the lifetime achievements of Terman's termites show? They were not as successful as those he did not accept Chris Langan and Robert Oppenheimer both ran into problem in college. Why did the outcomes of these two students differ? How did the lives of these two geniuses differ? Oppenheimer was able to talk his way out of it What is "practical intelligence", according to Robert Sternberg? Where does it come from? Comes from the way someone is raised. It is the ability to get out of trouble and be assertive What is social savvy? How do we acquire it? What did the research of Annette Lareau show us? It is acquired through the way we are raised. Research of Annette Lareau shows that there are only two parenting styles and they are divided almost perfectly along class lines How does social class influence parenting philosophies? What does this have to do with success? Middle and upper class families encourage their kids to question authority. A sense of entitlement that is the perfect attitude for succeeding in our world. What advantage did Rober Oppenheimer have that Chris Langan did not have? Why did this prepare him to handle the challenges of his life so brilliantly? Oppenheimer has the ability to related to adults and be assertive. Lewis Terman followed the Termites into adulthood. At that point, he examined their records and divided them into three groups: the A group, the B group, and the C group. What in the end mattered more than anything else in the success of these individuals? The background of their parents an their parents education The story of Joe Flom appears to be a rags to riches story, which flies in the face of Gladwell's argument about success. But what did a further examination of his life show? What do we learn about the New York immigrant world in which Joe Flom grew up? What were Joe Flom's opportunities? He diversities his law practice What three lessons does Gladwell teach us from the life of Joe Flom? The importance of being jewish, demographic luck; its not all about intelligence but practicing something so much that when it becomes profitable, you are already good at it, he was poor jewish and grew up during the depression, they seem like disadvantages but they were advantages; he was an outlier What obstacle did Alexander Bikel face in his career? Cancer What is a "white shoes" firm? Does this concept fit C. Wright Mills theory of the Power Elite? Why or why not? Partnerships; "white -shoe firm" clean cut appearances, graduates from certain schools What kind of work did the "white shoe" firms disdain in the 1950s and 1960s? Why did this offer an opportunity to Joe Flom's law firm? Corporate lawyers. handled taxes and legal work for their clients, proxy fights and litigations Flames early specialty was Proxy fights; White shoe firm though hostile take overs weren't their job, which gave the opportunity to Flom How did the 10,000 hour rule work for Joe Flom? For 20 years he perfected his work, then when it was his time he was ready Why did Mort Janklow succeed where his father, Maurice Janklow, did not? What does this have to do with the sociological imagination? Maurice- the depression killed him economically went to brooklyn law school, he had to work for cheap, went to NYC public schools when they were over crowded Mort- born in the 1930's; demographic trough. Benefits- he was born in a small generation, schools, teachers, all are able to give him attention because there is no crowding, the supply of new entrance is low and the demand is high. Went to columbia law school, sold his business for millions. People cannot escape the limitations of their generation What does the story of Louis and Regina Borgenicht teach us about opportunities? If you work hard enough, you can shape the world to your desires What three things make work satisfying according to Gladwell? autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward What did Louise Farkas' research show about Jewish family trees? 1930- best time for jewish lawyer and doctor. They became professionals not in spite of their humble beginnings. They became professionals because of their humble origins