Written by Malcolm Gladwell a journalist that started his writing career at the Washington Post, followed by the New Yorker, specializing in non-fiction articles. Malcolm is well known for his differing viewpoint and has two other books that have made it to the best seller list, Tipping Point and Blink, both of which are described as “pop economics” and which analyze everyday phenomenon from a different perspective.
Outliers argues against the notion that people’s success is a direct result of their intelligence, drive and work. The novel relates the stories of The Beatles, Bill Gates, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Canadian hockey teams and others to prove with veritable evidence that success depends as much on external factors such as: number of practice hours, culture, ability to take advantage of opportunities, etc.
According to Malcolm, 10,000 hours marks the number which makes a person an expert in any area. Having the access and time to reach that number is one of the determining factors of success. These stories of success in which the protagonists have the environment that met all the criteria is contrasted against the story of Christopher Langan, who is considered the smartest person alive with an IQ of 195 (Einstein’s being 150) who failed to reach success because he grew up in a dysfunctional environment which did not provide the key factors he needed to succeed.
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