The second part explores how one’s sociocultural background can affect achievement. He highlights factors, such as opportunities for practice-citing neurologist Daniel Levitin’s claim that one requires at minimum 10,000 hours of practice time to develop expertise-and family background, that can bring knowledge of particular social mores and other advantages. Gladwell divides the book into two parts, “Opportunity” and “Legacy.” In the first part, Gladwell illustrates the role of opportunity, often by chance, with examples that demonstrate how some individuals have an unearned advantage on their path to success and achievement. He urges readers to consider how seemingly innocuous factors such as birth dates can disproportionately advantage an individual’s success, including school performance, while indering that of others. He concludes that society would be better served if we acknowledged that “hard work” alone is often not the locus of success. In the book, Gladwell troubles commonly held notions about the nature of achievement and success in the United States. Well-known for his number-one bestsellers, The Tipping Point and Blink, Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success, is a thoughtprovoking read for educators.
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