Outliers

Nate Silver, the author of Signal and Noise, views Gladwell’s works as too simplistic views of the world. Silver believes that Gladwell tends to see patterns in perhaps random noise or when there are none. What happened in the world is rarely if ever mechanistic or linear (i.e. too simplistic views of the world). They usually happen in chaotic, non-systematic and non-linear manner.  Regardless of the criticism, Gladwell’s books are undeniably enjoyable read.

On 10,000 hours

The author cited several studies that looked into successful people in various disciplines and found that, in general, it requires at least 10,000 hours for people to master their crafts. It’s all but impossible to reach that number all by yourself by the time you are a young adult. You have to have parents to encourage and support you. You can’t be poor, because if you have to hold up part-time job on the side to help make ends meet, there won’t be time left in the day to practice enough. Alternatively, they have to be in a special program that allows that kind of time. 

On practical intelligence

It is defined as knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.  

It is procedural: it is about knowing how to do something without necessarily knowing why you know it or being able to explain it. 

It’s practical in nature: that is, it’s not knowledge for its own sake. It’s knowledge that helps you read situations correctly and get what you want. And, critically, it is a kind of intelligence separate from the sort of analytical ability measured by IQ. It’s a particular skill that allows you to talk your way out of a murder rap, or convince your professor to move you from the morning to the afternoon section.

To sum this up in a sentence, there are differences between street smart and book smart, both of which are important for different scenarios.

On meaningful work 

Autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward are the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It’s not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five.  Work that fulfils those three criteria is meaningful. Also work can be meaningful if we tackle them with joy and resolve and enthusiasm.

Success arises out of the steady accumulation of advantages: when and where you are born, what your parents did for a living, and what the circumstances of your upbringing will make a significant difference in how well you do in the world. This is not what we usually think of successful people. We tend to think that they are solely responsible for their success. It takes a village to raise a child, I guess, to become successful it requires stars to aligned in one’s favour.

Success follows a predictable course. It’s not the brightest who succeed. Nor is success simply the some of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.