Outliers
Reviewed Dec 9, 2020 on The Litt Review.
This was the first Malcolm Gladwell book I’ve read start to finish, and I was surprised by how readable it was, and how informative. I had the opinion, gotten from who-knows-where, that this was going to be second-rate, overly generalized, do-these-things-to-be-amazing writing. But it wasn’t a self-help book, or moralizing, or instructive on how to make your bed in the morning; instead, the book offered interesting cultural histories and a narrative that made me question some of the stories I take for granted, particularly around (unsurprisingly) outliers. I confess I didn’t understand that his take on outliers was that they are not necessarily individualistic extreme points, but rather flotsam moved along by strong cultural forces - and, once I saw that, it became a very interesting book.
It was hard for me not to try and draw concrete lessons from the book, or parallels, but I guess that is the nature of writing and reading, in general. There were several chapters that were particularly interesting. First, I was born in September; and I also skipped a year. I think that I don’t often think about the compound effect of being emotionally and physically underdeveloped during my years with others in High School. I was one of the younger ones. Of course I was bad at sports! Of course I was immature! The others had a whole year to learn things that I learned slowly. I wonder how my life might have changed if I hadn’t been pushed forward a year. My parents prioritized intelligence over emotional wellbeing, which, I think, was detrimental to my long term growth. That’s not the whole story, but it is compelling.
Another personal note that struck home for me was that - above an IQ with a floor of around 120 - there is no great benefit to being smart. I know that my IQ is above 120. And, repeatedly, I’m told stories by family members or people who know me: “You can make money whenever you want to. I’m you’ll be rich when you want to be.” But in a world where being smarter than smart enough is not necessarily an advantage in the long run, there is no certainty that this will happen. Unfortunately, I’ve also internalized these messages, along with an excessive dose of Christian shame and guilt, and these narratives are difficult to fight internally.
Speaking of family narratives - Gladwell talks in one chapter about the Jewish lawyers who dominated in the 50s and onward in New York, who were the sons of Jewish milliners. This was another interesting perspective, because it happens to have been a similar path for my own grandfather. He started out owning a hat shop, and ended up consistently beating the market in stocks in his retirement. Seeing that edge was interesting, and it helps explain my father more, too. I am somewhat removed from my grandfather’s story, in terms of how being Jewish has shaped my own life, but it’s an interesting one to think about. The parallels go deeper, too. My great grandfather was hit by several great waves of negative years - the first world war, the depression, Spanish flu. He died young, at 46, of drinking and smoking. I know little about his life, but he didn’t get the break that my grandfather did.
This book ultimately gives me a couple of thematic takeaways: be wary of outlier stories, especially in yourself. And work hard to have the presence of mind to take opportunities when they come. I’m looking forward to reading Gladwell’s other books, at some point, and comparing them.
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