Book Review (Rucksack): Outliers

Outliers

Written by Malcolm Gladwell in 2008

The Raccoon: Citing studies of centenarians, famous athletes, and geniuses, Gladwell explores the reasons why certain individuals and groups are able to progress so much further in life than the rest of the population.

UNMASKED: There is never really an acceptable reason to refuse a book by Malcolm Gladwell.  If you have less than 48 hours to hack into the NSA to avert a global catastrophe, but a friend walks in the room and hands you Blink or David and Goliath, it is in your best interest to drop everything and read it immediately.

Outliers is certainly no exception; the book sheds light on several mechanisms that govern economic and social placement in our society.  For example, you may have heard the idea that ten thousand hours are required of any activity before it is mastered.  Gladwell proves this using plentiful studies of groups and examples of specific men and women, leaving no holes in his thesis.

The natural consequence of Gladwell’s depth and rare subject choice, however, is fear.  It is one thing to read The Confessions of an Economic Hitman and learn how the United States government has flooded developing countries with debt under the guise of helping them industrialize.  It is a far more frightening thing for Gladwell to reveal the skewed methods by which Bill Gates became a household name while other men and women of his caliber remained entirely unnoticed, because nobody is at fault.  There is no grand conspiracy; the unnatural selection process is simply as automatic to society as breathing is to us.

Outliers is a gift, because it raises awareness of a problem that has passed completely under the radar up until now.  So, whatever you have planned for the weekend, it isn’t as important as this book.

Strengths:

• Outliers revolutionizes the way the reader sees the people around him/her.
• Gladwell elaborates on every point he presents, making for strong, proven arguments.

Weaknesses:

• Gladwell ends Outliers with his family’s story, which is the least logical and interesting example in the book.
• Although Outliers aims to be entirely scientific and unbiased, certain chapters border on racist stereotyping.
• A “be all end all” tone pervades the book, ignoring that the the societal factors described do not currently apply to every person and will likely not always apply to the rest.

Rating: 17/20 opportunities

Ideal Setting: Read this when you feel “the system” has cheated you.  You are still being cheated, but there is a reason for every aspect of life’s unfairness.