Outliers Essay

An Outlier is someone who stands out in a group due to their mastery of a certain skill and because of that they are successful. According to Gladwell not anyone can become successful; it takes the right circumstances and opportunities. Human’s capability seems limitless, and if we put in the time and hard work we can achieve our goals. We as a society love to think that a person may become successful and that we all have the same opportunities and chance of succeeding if we just work hard enough. According to Malcom Gladwell, the author of the book Outlier’s these common beliefs are incorrect and are not the means of a person becoming successful. The main theme throughout Gladwell’s Outlier’s is that successful …show more content…

However families with a lower socio-economic status may not be able to afford this for their children which already put their kids at a disadvantage. Those kids with previous schooling show potential of being more intelligent than in turn are given more attention. In reality the children who didn’t appear to be as intelligent as those who received schooling prior to their first year of elementary school may have the potential to be much smarter but just lack experience or a chance to flourish. Gladwell believes that life is directly affected by circumstances such as these and that the successful are those who have been given opportunities. Gladwell in his outlier theory challenges the popular notion that human potential is limitless, and if you work hard enough you can achieve what you want and become successful. An example of this is the story of Christopher Langan in the book, a man with an outrageously high IQ score whose intelligence makes him stand out so much in comparison to other people, yet he works on a horse farm and wouldn’t be considered successful by any means. How does a person with a genius IQ score not make it in a world where people of average intelligence are becoming successful? It’s because growing up in an unstable family situation, Langan never had opportunities for success. This example is spot on with Gladwell’s claims and exemplifies the fact that opportunity is more important than ability and people don’t rise from nothing. Success