Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Outliers & Practical Intelligence

Haley Scholars Fall 2012 Reading Groups  

Extending his “Trouble with Geniuses” concerns, Malcolm Gladwell offers insight about those particular skills that give talented people the extra edge to become outliers. Gladwell explains that we too often assume that success is based purely on intellect or physical talents. Genetics tend to play vital roles, but they are hardly the sole determining factors.

To describe the differences between a highly intelligent yet underachieving person and a highly intelligent and successful one, Gladwell highlights psychologist Robert Sternberg’s concept “practical intelligence,” which includes “'knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.’” Practical intelligence is “knowledge that helps you read situations correctly and get what you want. And, critically, it is a kind of intelligence separate from the sort of analytical ability measured by IQ.”

The practical intelligence that Gladwell presents can also be thought of as a kind of “social savvy,” an ability to skillfully negotiate multiple social and professional environments. People with high IQs who seemed to squander their talents were actually people who lacked “a community around them that prepared them properly for the world.”

How did you respond to Gladwell’s ideas about the roles of wealth and parenting in the lives of those who are more likely to become socially savvy and/or highly successful? Why or how so?

11 comments:

Jacqueline Carter said...

I agreed when Gladwell talked about roles of wealth and parenting in lives of those likely to become saavy and/or successful. Parenting shapes values of the individuals and how they grow up has an influence (rich/poor). I don't think it is possible to become a well-rounded individual without help of others and learning from them.Parents raise their children based on how they grew up-good or bad.

breon said...

I agree with what he has to say because anybody can become highly wealthy but takes more than just smarts. Cause like he said some people who are smart may not become wealthy but it takes certain people to come in your life and teach you how to do something and your will to learn and get better for you to get wealthy

Unknown said...

I don't know that the wealth is truly a factor or not, but I do agree with him along the lines of the parental influence. I know personally, parental support goes a long way. If you have parents that constantly push you to do better and learn to do things on your own, you should be more successful versus someone who has developed a dependence on their parents to get things done.

Anonymous said...

I agreed with Gladwell's ideas about the difference between the high and low class parenting styles. We live in a society where the rich get more advantages than those in lower classes. Sometimes it is harder for the lower class to "break the mold" and be successful, so they give up on helping there kids. Chris Langan he has little support system from the community and more importantly his parents. His parents are not used to the social norms to become sucessful, so they can not help him.

Joshua Jones said...

The annonymous person at 6:29 PM is Me (Joshua Jones)

Jade Green said...

I agree with what he says because like others said before parenting can really affect how people. If children are neglected then they will mostly turn out to be savvy. Many people that have wealthy parents seem to be socially savvy. So I would agree to what he has said about parenting and wealth can gave an effect.

Unknown said...

I agree with what Gladwell says about how being successful or even wealthy may depend on your parenting, because our personalities are shaped by the characteristics from those who we were brought up by and around for most of our lives as we went through stages of development. Many people that have wealthy parents seem to be socially savvy, and people with lower class parents seem less influenced to do great things in life.

Unknown said...

I agree with him on the fact that parenting is done differently in high and low income families. When a child is raised in a high income family, the parents have extra money for their children to do activities outside of school. When a child is raised in a low income family, it is harder for the parents to come up with the money for the child to do extra activities.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

I agree with Gladwell's ideas about he roles of wealth and parenting on one's success. When you are raised in a wealthy family you are exposed to things that other children are not. Fancy dinners, larger vocabulary, better schools. I don't believe that parenting always has something to do with it. However, I believe the way my parents raised me has a lot to do with my strive for success. Because my parents always watched my grades and made me do my work before I went out, it has become a habit that has made me successful in my life. That is why I believe parenting plays a bigger role in a child's success than wealth.

Tatierra Witherspoon said...

I agree with Gladwell about different parenting and different wealth statuses. When you have money , you have more to afford for your kids as opposed to someone not so advantaged. As in parenting styles some of the poorer kids could speak just as well or behave as well as kids who have more depending on how the parent raises them.

Mariah B. said...

I agree that parenting and wealth play a role. If you have parents that don't care if you get good grades or not or they don't care what you do, you are more likely to not become successful. It takes more effort if you don't have that push that everyone needs from their parents. When it comes to wealth it does play a role, but not as big as parenting. children who grow up in a wealthy home can have better opportunities than children who do not.