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Thursday, November 6, 2014
The Luck of the Calendar
In Outliers,by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell zeros in on the story behind success. One of the major factors that contribute to the amount of success a person has is what month they were born in. Gladwell uses rosters of sports teams to point out that the vast majority of the players on that roster were born in the first few months of the year. This is because there is a huge gap of development that occurs in children around the age of ten and the players that are lucky enough to be born in the early months have a huge advantage physically and mentally. This is the reason why many young players on Canadian Hockey teams were born in the first three months of the year and continue to get better at an exponential rate because they are the ones that recieve the best coaching. Ultimately the young hockey players are able to turn pro and become successful simply because they were born in the early months of the year:a trend that is evident in different sports worldwide.
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Hello Mathew, I am going to have to disagree with you on this statement. I dont think athlete are determined great players because of the month they were born in. For example, Kobe Bryant was born in August and he is the best player to play in the NBA. August is not one of the earlier months of the year. If Gladwell's argument is found to be true I would argue that it is all a coincidence that theses great athletes were born in the first three months of the year.
ReplyDeleteHello Matthew. I was interested in reading Outliers, but I read Shenk's The Genius in All of Us. The idea that being born in an earlier month of the year will lead to more success as a result of further brain development seems somewhat absurd, right? I wouldn't denounce this ideal because it may be a possibility, but for now, I'd have to disagree. It does make sense that a brain will be developed further for being born in earlier months, but I think this is only comparable to the age group of the person itself. In other words, I believe that it does not serve as a major factor in success overall. Saying that the evidence by Gladwell is a coincidence is approaching a high ego standpoint, but it is very difficult to validate that Gladwell''s idea as a truth.
ReplyDeleteUh, Joseph, James...I think you should look at the data. There are always exceptions, but Matthew is looking at statistical data cited by Gladwell. Just because it seems counterintuitive, you can't dismiss it outright. It's why we start our kids in kindergarten these days LATER instead of earlier. When I was little, it was fashionable to start your kids in kindergarten when they were 4 instead of 5 -- a sign of an advanced kid. Now, smart parents are starting their kids at 6. They're older, bigger, more mature, more articulate, better coordinated...they do better in kindergarten...did you know that some people say that a child's educational trajectory has been set by the end of 1st grade? Maybe even earlier. I know if a kid is behind in the 3rd grade, that kid will be behind in the 9th grade, in the 12th grade; so the college you go to could be determined in kindergarten? Why WOULDN'T you start your kid later?
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