Started with Outliers and am 3 chapters down - there have been 2 points made so far and I seem to fit neither of the arguments - as of now I am an Outlier complement.
Lets see how many readers on this blog (if there still are any left) fit this?
1. The first theory that MG makes is that of cumulative advantage - you start as the oldest kid in class which gives you an advantage (better grades, better co-ordination skills) and then that advantage gets honed as you get selected for team sports or you top the class and get selected for greater things!
Essentially if your school year starts in June (as it does in India) and you complete your xth birthday (x = minimum cut-off age to be in LKG) by June, you join the class - else you wait out the year and join a year late. So, people who are born after June have a head-start than those born earlier and this is the start of a lifetime of cumulative advantages.
Outlier complement's take: I am born in March and fit the disadvantage of being the younger kid in class. Additionally, given what a trial I was turning out to be at home, my parents managed to get me into school an entire year earlier than other people. Consequently, I have been the youngest in my class and I have still managed to top class, bla bla, bla blah! I defeat the cumulative advantage since I started out with a significant handicap and still fared better than most.I must be genius right? Apparently not - by the next point that he makes
2. 10,000 hour rule - Every one is born with a mild talent - hard work and practice converts that to genius! If you put in 10,000 hours at something, you will be good at it - well evidently you would.
Outlier complement's take: I have not put in 10,000 hours into anything and not that I am genius but I reasonably good at most things.
Bottomline - This book is for fighters - people who use the long route to get anywhere. I am more of a chotta "photcut" person so this will just be light reading I guess..
Next book on the list: Orwell's 1984 or Nabokov's Pnin
