Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Rice Paddies and Outliers

Haley Scholars Fall 2012 Reading Groups   

In chapter eight, “Rice Paddies and Math Tests,” Malcolm Gladwell continues to explore his claim that cultures can have significant impacts on various aspects of success. He takes an in-depth look at the work ethics of farmers in southern China and reveals how rice cultivation can be an intricate, laborious, and, if done well, rewarding process for an entire family. And over long periods of time, the processes and culture of rice cultivation appear to yield benefits to a people well beyond the farms.

According to Gladwell, rice farmers, the majority of whom have limited resources, improved the returns on their labor by “becoming smarter, by being better managers of their own time, and by making better choices.” In other words, more than simply working hard, they worked intelligently and strategically. Gladwell proposes that cultures “shaped by the tradition of wet-rice agriculture and meaningful work” tend to produce students with the fortitude to “sit still long enough” to find solutions to time-consuming and complex math problems, for instance.

You’ll recall the proverbs Gladwell cites that emerged in southern China such as “No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.” Help us come up with local remixes to that saying. In no more than 10 additional words, compose useful and creative insertions to complete the following sentence:

No one who can __________________________________ throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

"No one who can __manage their time and work hard__ throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE."
Ashya F

Jacqueline Carter said...

No one who can__study,work hard,manage time, and have fun__ throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

No one who can gain intelligence and character throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

TaTierra Witherspoon said...

"No one who can manage to take care of a family, work, study & not procrastinate throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE."

Unknown said...

No one who can_stay completely focused while still having fun_throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Unknown said...

No one who can _ commit to the educational process_ throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Joshua Jones said...

No one who can balance the different classes and work hard on them throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Christopher Wade said...

No one who can manage their time and stress throughout a semester fails to achieve academic succesws at SIUE.

Wole Abraham said...

No one who can work hard and focus on all essential work throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Wesley Haskins said...

No one can suffiecientlly study and rigorously work throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Jade Green said...

No one who can keep focused on their studies without being stressed throughtout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Unknown said...

No one who can dedicate their time and their full potential to their school work throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Raven Cole said...

No one who can remain humble, focused and diligent throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Dj Sterling said...

No one who can be responsible and work hard on their school work throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.

Mariah B. said...

No one who can buckle down to their studies and make sure that they do their absolute best on everything that they do and turn in throughout a semester fails to achieve academic success at SIUE.