Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell

Comment #2407

2011-05-06T19:55:28Z

It seems to me that despite all his interesting books, Gladwell's solution is not new: he just wants to improve the meritocracy we're already after. I don't think a perfect meritocracy is possible.* There's always an element of grace, of the undeserved good, in our lives. It should be part of our considerations when thinking about improving society; it should lead us to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to give grace as freely as we have received it.

*If I had the time, I'd try to find my Ivan Illich book to find the quote about the perfect meritocracy being hell.

Comment #2406

2011-05-06T17:04:44Z

On the language advantage issue: if I ask a Gambian in Mandinka "How is your family?" I will always get the standard rote answer "they're there." If I ask English, I might get a real answer like "My brother has malaria."

Comment #2405

2011-05-06T13:43:50Z

Another question might be: What are we practicing? Someone once said he could tell where a man's heart was by looking at his checkbook. That may be out of date, but perhaps we can tell where our hearts are by looking at where we are putting in our 10,000 hours. Am I practicing writing, or genealogy research, or communicating, or ... sitting largely immobile in front of a glowing screen? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Comment #2404

2011-05-06T12:54:30Z

It does, indeed. And it makes sense. It has me wondering, though: Where is the place of the generalist? Sometimes I think we, as a society, specialize too much. Is there a way to be much better than we are at many things? Professionally, I know that breakthroughs are often made by people who can see the larger picture, who can bring insight from many angles to a situation. Personally, I find it sad that we depend so much on others to mow our lawns, bake our bread, fix our plumbing, teach our children, etc. I'd like to see us competent in many fields. Is it possible to be jack-of-many-trades while master-of-one-or-two?

Comment #2403

2011-05-06T12:08:18Z

The section on the 10,000 hour rule seems to tie in with Cal Newport's book. Don't waste time on multitudes of activities to impress admissions officers. Instead, find what interests you and spend those extra hours there.