OUTLIER: Malcolm Gladwell
By: Alaina Smith
Malcolm Gladwell
1. Malcolm Gladwell is separated from others in his field because when he writes a novel, he doesn’t just do some research on the subject he is interested in he goes into the people’s lives if possible. Like in his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about 2 different types of intelligence such as practical or IQ. In his book he describes the difference between each and what makes each so different from the other. Malcolm Gladwell isn’t like others writers because; he takes a different perspective on the subject.
Practical v.s. IQ Intelligence
1. Malcolm Gladwell portrays a sense of practical intelligence because, as some as his friends said when he would write and anyone wanted to read his books, “if you want academic rigor, don’t read gladwell” and brings be back to the point where Gladwell may do a lot of research but it’s not about academic learning it’s about interesting facts many people would like to read. As well as practical, Malcolm Gladwell does portray IQ intelligence throughout his writing as well. As some people described his writing, “it is part entertainment, part eccentric, part scribbler of others ideas” Malcolm Gladwell puts his knowledge into what he does and an IQ test, is just a test that shows how much knowledge you have. I think Malcolm Gladwell has an even amount in Practical and IQ intelligence throughout his writing style because, each intelligence is important for life and when Gladwell puts it into his writing it becomes more relatable to what a fan or an ordinary reader takes interest in. These certain intelligence's have impacted Malcolm Gladwell’s success because without all of his knowledge and research and of just going from the gut Malcolm Gladwell wouldn’t be who he is today.
Competition
1. In my research I found no sources of competition against Malcolm Gladwell, he probably has some but it may not be as important to him. In my research that I found Malcolm Gladwell if there was competition, he uses both practical and IQ intelligence to defeat a nemesis, because in his writing he uses a sense of both to give a different outlook of others in his writing and an outlook on how different the world works. In each of Gladwells books he writes about life choices and lifes troubles, but Malcolm Gladwell makes the books relatable, so that all readers understand the books easier.
Partners of Success
1. In Malcolm Gladwells book the Outliers, he uses people like Chris Langan, etc. to do all of his research to write his book and without he sources there would be no book. More people that help Malcolm Gladwell succeed are his publishers, Little and Brown and Company. If Malcolm Gladwell had no of these people he would have no books. The benefit that comes from having all these people in his life, are so that he creates a wonderful book and so the ally benefits from his success as well because for every book Malcolm Gladwell sells the publishers make and profit which makes their company bigger and more successful and are able to expand if liked too.
Qualities of Transcendentalist
I believe that Malcolm Gladwell does reflect qualities of a Transcendentalist because a transcendentalist is described as a person who accepts ideas not religiously but as a way of understanding life relationships. Now Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers and brings “a masterful explaining how the world works- the power of critical mass, the arbitrariness of success, etc.” As USA TODAY OPINION said. This explains that he writes what our world today is like and how certain environments around us work and how succeed in them. In each book of Malcolm Gladwells there is sort of life and different things that happen like in David and Goliath, he talks about competition and how the smaller guy wins the majority of the time. So as continued Malcolm Gladwell does portray transcendentalism traits because he gives a sense of it in all of his writings.
Purpose of Outliers
Gladwells purpose of chapters 3 and 4 of Outliers were to give an explanation of how intelligence works and what it means. Malcolm Gladwell writes about 2 different types of intelligence such as practical and IQ intelligence. He gives examples about how Christopher Langan is so intelligent he got around a 195 on his IQ test and how basketball players are usually chosen by their height and ability as a practical intelligence. Throughout his novel, I think he does persuade the reader because all the many examples he gave and the one where to work at Microsoft you must have the right answer to a question “Why are manhole covers round?” and if this question is answered incorrectly then you were not smart enough to work at Microsoft. As I read the book Outliers I agreed with his theories of intelligence because even though not everyone can be as intelligent as Christopher Langan or be 6 foot tall to be a great basketball player, we all have intelligence and it’s used to best of a person’s capabilities. My outlier does reinforce his own theories because Malcolm Gladwell is the one who wrote thee theories and he were to go against his own it wouldn’t make sense.