Reviewing Outliers

Outliers



I know this is not the first time that I'm talking about this book, but this book deserves a special mention because of the implications of its ideas.

Malcolm Gladwell looks for the reasons for success, and finds it in the social context and connections that people are brought up with. To sum it, connections + practise = high chances of success. He uses Bill Gates and his 100,000+ hours of coding, along with world class musicians, and the contrasting examples of Manhattan Project head Oppenheimer with a contemporary genius who has, erm, fallen on hard times.

The parts that continue to *hit* me. There was a part where he was talking about why people in low-income neighbourhoods don't do as well as people in high-income neighbourhoods. It is not that people in low-income neighbourhoods are less smart - thats utter nonsense, rather, it is because of the social environment and the likelihood of continuing to study at home. The truth is, people in low-income neighbourhoods really need more time and resources continuing academic pursuit, just as a kid in a privileged family would have books and nurturing families at home to sculp their minds.

In other words, the social environment is going to a large determinant of how a person does, regardless of innate ability. A person's innate ability IS important, but a poor environment would be unable to express that ability to its fullest potential.

But there were other reasons why I keep coming back to this book. Because all the time I'm thinking about my classmates in secondary school and some NS buddies, and what it is that differentiates me from others. Everyone is smart, its just that not everyone has had that opportunity to pursue that smartness.

There should be a place in every neighbourhood, where's there's WIFI, books, computers and someone down there who will be able to guide and push students in their studies. It would be a learning place, and place where students would be asked to consolidate what they learnt in their school and go a bit further. It ought to be a meaningful learning place, for them to ask questions. But first and foremost, it would be a place where they do their work, where they'll have the support of others.