Philosophy
When we think about how our lives have turned out, we have a tendency to blame circumstances for our misfortunes and talent for our success. As you may already begin to suspect, there's something missing with this convenient explanation.
In the following fascinating, thought-provoking and hilarious conversation with Robert Krulwich, pop sociologist Malcolm Gladwell challenges the traditional conception of talent and raw giftedness, and shows in the process that when you're born, for instance, has a much greater influence on your future success than you might imagine. Similarly, all kinds of other external forces usually conspire in brilliantly interesting ways to dictate the way your life will turn out in the end.
You may need the right circumstances to converge, but you don't have to be born 'gifted' in order to succeed. And this means that it's not entirely out of our hands, and Gladwell's research suggests some possible solutions we might want to think about without necessarily falling into the traps of self-delusion to which we are so easily susceptible.
And if you think some people really are born talented, check out the documentary My Brilliant Brain: Born Genius for some perspective.
.
- Ayn Rand, Malcolm Gladwell, And Mastery
A few weeks ago, one of my student asked about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule wherein mastery of a complex task takes 10,000 hours of work. My reply at the time was that clearly the time dedicated will be variable by individual, but that there...
- The Importance Of Recognition
I'm in full dissertation mode. It has been hard to post regularly or even think about non-dissertation-related topics. So, I've decided to write about what I've been thinking about in relation to the dissertation. In the past few months,...
- Malcolm Gladwell - The Unheard Of Story Of David And Goliath
History is a tricky business. In order to reconstruct the past, historians have to assemble an incomplete record of evidence and turn it into a coherent account of what may have likely happened. Although some details vary, the general idea could also...
- Are We Born Or Made Talented?
Take a look at yourself for a moment. Are you nearly as successful as you once dreamed? I didn't think so. What happened? Unless you are an extraordinarily honest person, by now you are probably thinking of a million excuses to explain why your life...
- Malcolm Gladwell - Can We Believe What People Tell Us?
Perhaps the most famous line of Plato's Apology is the one in which Socrates makes the bold claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living." This is also where we get the exhortation "know thyself." The problem is that, quite often, the more...
Philosophy
Malcolm Gladwell - Where Does Success Come From?
When we think about how our lives have turned out, we have a tendency to blame circumstances for our misfortunes and talent for our success. As you may already begin to suspect, there's something missing with this convenient explanation.In the following fascinating, thought-provoking and hilarious conversation with Robert Krulwich, pop sociologist Malcolm Gladwell challenges the traditional conception of talent and raw giftedness, and shows in the process that when you're born, for instance, has a much greater influence on your future success than you might imagine. Similarly, all kinds of other external forces usually conspire in brilliantly interesting ways to dictate the way your life will turn out in the end.
You may need the right circumstances to converge, but you don't have to be born 'gifted' in order to succeed. And this means that it's not entirely out of our hands, and Gladwell's research suggests some possible solutions we might want to think about without necessarily falling into the traps of self-delusion to which we are so easily susceptible.
And if you think some people really are born talented, check out the documentary My Brilliant Brain: Born Genius for some perspective.
.
- Ayn Rand, Malcolm Gladwell, And Mastery
A few weeks ago, one of my student asked about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule wherein mastery of a complex task takes 10,000 hours of work. My reply at the time was that clearly the time dedicated will be variable by individual, but that there...
- The Importance Of Recognition
I'm in full dissertation mode. It has been hard to post regularly or even think about non-dissertation-related topics. So, I've decided to write about what I've been thinking about in relation to the dissertation. In the past few months,...
- Malcolm Gladwell - The Unheard Of Story Of David And Goliath
History is a tricky business. In order to reconstruct the past, historians have to assemble an incomplete record of evidence and turn it into a coherent account of what may have likely happened. Although some details vary, the general idea could also...
- Are We Born Or Made Talented?
Take a look at yourself for a moment. Are you nearly as successful as you once dreamed? I didn't think so. What happened? Unless you are an extraordinarily honest person, by now you are probably thinking of a million excuses to explain why your life...
- Malcolm Gladwell - Can We Believe What People Tell Us?
Perhaps the most famous line of Plato's Apology is the one in which Socrates makes the bold claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living." This is also where we get the exhortation "know thyself." The problem is that, quite often, the more...