Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Outliers & Cultural Legacies

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

In chapter 6 of Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell provides a discussion about cultural legacies. He opens with disturbing descriptions of how longstanding cultural patterns and beliefs influenced violent conflicts among generations of families in Kentucky during the 19th century.

The compelling research findings concerning long-term and deeply held values led Gladwell to the conclusion that Cultural legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and long lives. They persist, generation after generation, virtually intact, even as the economic and social demographic conditions that spawned them have vanished, and they play such a role in directing attitudes and behavior that we cannot make sense of our world without them.

He goes on to note the possibilities of “taking cultural legacies seriously” in order to learn “why people succeed and how to make people better.”

It’s worth noting that highlighting cultural legacies can easily give way to problematic racial and gendered generalizations—generalizations we have necessarily been inclined to critique or avoid.

Having said that, how might taking cultural legacies seriously hurt or improve our understanding of high academic achievement at SIUE? That is to say, how would a concentrated focus on cultural legacies limit or enhance our view of those who succeed in college?

17 comments:

lance13 said...

Concentrated focus on cultural legacies could limit views of who succeeds in college because if we look at certain cultures, they might have a low percentage of people who do well in college, so someone might start to believe that it is impossible or extremely difficult for people of this culture to succeed in higher education. This could cause people of these certain cultures to look down on themselves and not even attempt to get a higher education because they feel as if they won't succeed.

Jacquelene G. said...

I feel focusing on cultural legacies could spark controversy. Studying cultural legacies would allow us to learn other's secrets of success. However, it may lead us to form stereotypes.
The author pointed out how people who originate from cultures of honor may act differently when insulted versus people who did not. Perhaps further studying people's actions in relation to where they originate could help. If people know what actions they are prone to maybe they can work to get rid of the bad habits and increase the habits needed to succeed.
On the other hand, people may be offended by certain observations. These observations then turn into stereotypes. Then the entire goal of enhancing our view is lost.


Jac`quelene G.

Candace P said...

A concentrated focus on cultural legacies would severly limit our view of those who succeed in college. When cultural legacies are taken into consideration, our perceptions of those who have high academic achievement at SIUE are affected. We will begin to create this stereotype of how succeeding individuals should look and act, instead of focusing on an individual’s determination. By placing emphasis on cultural legacies, we are paying less attention to other determining factors of success.

mburchett said...

The focus on cultural legacies can be either a pro or con, it really depends on the student. A lot of cultures, mostly minorities, don't have a good history with it's people succeeding in college, so the students of that culture can feel as if it doesn't matter if they succeed in college because that's whats expected. on the other a student of that same culture can look at that negative cultural legacy as motivation to succeed in college to begin a break in the cycle.

Sable said...

I believe that if we focused on cultural legacies, the overall college environment would become increasingly segregated. Students would feel pressured by the studies and focus on the past instead of improve for the future to make such stereotypes disappear. For this to happen at a university, great consideration must be taken by the institute to make sure students are not discouraged by past cultural/statistical tendencies. The goal of studying cultural legacies is realistic as long as the students understand the endeavor is to learn from the past. They have to be able to see past the statistics and learn that success is from personal ability.

Nathan said...

I am under the impression that knowledge is always a good thing. If one learned about the innate values that others have used to succeed, then perhaps others can learn to take aspects of those values in order to succeed as well. Also, perhaps more help could be specialized for those who do not have the particular values, just as more specialized help could be provided for those who do have the values.

Yasmyn K. said...

I believe a concentrated focus on cultural legacies would create a social stumbling block for many cultures. This concern would lead to many people of different cultures to believe that they can not do better than what their cultural legacies have done. College is suppose to be about bettering oneself and becoming the best at what YOU, as an individual, can do.
If some people start to focus on their past as a culture, they may become discouraged and unmotivated by statistics of what MAN have examined. Success can be found through hard work, determination, and most importantly God. Focusing on the past would not be a great way to success.

Anonymous said...

Justin Jones

Cultural Legacies leaves a lot to be wonder. Now granted, it helps learn more about one culture but for the most most part it is kind of a form of discrimination. It creates stereotypes. Due to the fact that some races perform better than other, I believe they would get treated differently because of that. With all that, I believe it is a system set-up for minorities to fail and usually they because they have no confidence to do it.

Justin S said...

Concentrated focus on cultural legacies could enhance the views of those who succeed in college. It could push them to succeed and break the generalizations established for their culture. However, it could have adverse effects because some may view the cultural legacies as guidelines for academic achievement.

Zachary Kadiri said...

I feel that a concentrated focus on cultural legacies would limit our view on who succeeds in class because it would do nothing but lead to generalizations and stereotypes about a group of people even though everyone of a specific group is unique. I also feel that a concentrated focus on cultural legacies would enhance our view on who succeeds in class because those students who dont want be stereotyped will try their hardest to succeed therefore breaking down generalizations of group of people.

Sean Pettiford said...

A concentrated focus on cultural legacies in a college setting could limit or enhance the view on who exceeds and why. They can limit our view on who exceeds because looking at the legacy of certain cultures may lead to generalizations. This would be devistating to a college campus if most of the student body looks down at each other because of cultural differences.

I also believe that it can enhance the view of who will succeed in college. In many cases, various cultures have gone through some kind of struggle and somehow they manage to surpass that struggle and live on. Although there are many sterotypes that may develop, gaining knowledge on how different cultures succeed in the past may help to view how those same cultures can succeed now and in the future.

Jessica L.W. said...

Focusing on cultural legacies would limit the success of students and it would create segregation in the campus community. Students would be using their past to determine their future instead of focusing on what is able to be accomplished. The lives of students should not be determined based on their cultural legacies.

shanon stofer said...

I believe that focusing on cultural legacies would begin a controversy. To focus on cultural legacies would greatly limit our view of people who succeed in college and it may lead others to form stereotypes.We will begin to form stereotypes of how ceratin individuals should act and look, instead of focusing their goals and determination. This can also cause things to become more segregated because many people may be offended by certain observations that other people bring to them. Thhis goes to show that focusing on cultural legacies would cause a lot of unwanted tension.
Shanon Stofer

Anonymous said...

Focusing on cultural legacies would limit how people succeeded in college because it would change how they view themselves and how they do in class. If it was found that people with a certain cultural legacy would do worse in college, that person would think that they can never succeeded and lower their self-esteem, causing them to do poorly in classes. It could also make them think that they would never do well in college and simply not come to college at all.
Looking at cultural legacies could also causes people to form ideas about certain people before even meeting them, like stereotypes. This would cause huge problems for people in college because people might begin to discriminate against others and cause conflicts.
While I believe that cultural legacies should be looked into, the results may causes more harm then good.

Marta A.

Jamila M. said...

Looking at cultural legacies could limit the out look on who succeeds in college and who does not. As far as minorities, the history of their people do not have high college graduate rates and therefore would be looked upon as someone the government and the school should not invest in. This would be extremely unfair to those students determined to not only be the first ones in their family to go to college but also graduate.

Michelle E said...

I believe focusing on cultural legacies can be something positive. Being aware of how others achieved their individual success is the same as learning anything else. It helps to broaden the mind and provide new ideas for a person who hopes to be successful. They will be able to figure out what has been done, how it has been done, and what route works best for them.

Nicholas M said...

Concentrated focus on cultural legacies limits the views of those who succeed in college because if we focus on a culture that happens to do poorly in college, then without knowing that person we would assume he or she will most likely not succeed in college, based on patterns of his or her given culture.