It's been a while since I blogged, Many reasons to it, I was studying for PMP so thought i'd be wasting my time if I spent long time blogging. Secondly, I had to finish / start reading a book before I write a book review. Thirdly, Obvious Laziness.
So, I'm currently reading this book called 'Outliers - The Story of Success' - Malcolm Gladwell. I didn't finish the book yet, but in the couple of chapters I read i had contradictory opinions about what the author wanted to convey.
Before I write them, The meaning of 'Outlier' is one who is different from the usual.
I read the first 2 chapters, Chapter 1 talks about a place called Roseto where everyone was healthy not because of food, exercise,genes ,weather or any healthy practices but because of the simple reason that multiple generations lived as a family under one roof, (Joint-Family),
I agree partially to it, because you have experienced people to share your thoughts, relieve your stress and youngsters to keep you happy. But How cannot Lifestyle not attribute to one's health? The author claims that the average life span of every individual was greater than an average american for this simple reason.
He continues to discuss about cut off dates in school system , points out the fact that , If you take 2 kids from the opposite ends of a cut-off date, Example September 1 being the cut off dates, Opposite Ends means January 1, and August 30. He says the kid with January 1 date of birth will be a little more smarter and hence will be groomed much better than the kid who was born in August!!, Tries to prove it with some statistical data, but out of experience i don't consider this true. Here he introduces the concept of 'Accumulative Advantage' - Meaning, because the kid is slightly smarter, he is given the attention and so becomes more smarter than the others.
The third point is the age old saying 'Practice makes a man Perfect', agreed to this fact , but then he claims that there is nothing called born genius, Not anyone is gifted , It's only practice that makes a person outstanding than the others!, Agreed practice is necessary, but no one is gifted!, I find it difficult to agree.
I'll read further and comment about it, Do let me know your thoughts on what the author thinks.