Is there more to success than being remembered? Because, by those standards, some fairly awful people would be revered today. Success is not just wealth or political prowess. Again, with such blindly constructed values, it is easy to celebrate those who do not deserve to be. Success is determined by the people you help with the talents you have, regardless of if you are remembered for it. Alan Turing, mathematician and the creator of early computers, exemplifies success. He has been credited with the quote, “Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine,”. And he has done the unimaginable. Alan Turing grew up in a time riddled with German war crimes, during World War I (“World”). This could …show more content…
He was born to an English military family, serving in India (“Alan”). His parents decided to send him back to England to study (“Alan”). As a child, Turing had few friends, with the exception of a male companion who later died of bovine tuberculosis (Holt). After his friend, Turing became highly secluded and focused. In his childhood, he was deeply focused on the studies of mathematics and science (“Alan”). Later on, he was a successful student and athlete at the University of Cambridge (“Alan”). After writing an insightful paper on mathematics, he studied at Princeton University (“Alan”). During World War II, he worked on one of the first computers. This computer solved the German Enigma Code and ended the war (“Alan”). Despite the major contributions he made to his country, his achievements were not recognized in his lifetime. The work he did was kept top secret (Holt). Because of this, he was treated poorly by the state, without consideration of his work (Holt). After the War, Turing decided to teach at the University of Manchester (Holt). While teaching there, he had an affair with a student (Holt). The student and friend then robbed Turing’s home, knowing a homosexual would not go to the police when his preferences are a crime. Much to their surprise, Turing contacted the authorities (Holt). This is astonishing, he strove for justice even when he was at risk of conviction, Turing was convicted of “gross indecency”, and sentenced to chemical castration via female hormones (Holt). Turing was humiliated and upset by what was happening to his body. A toxic mix of embarrassment, loneliness, and fear led him to make a drastic decision. On June 7, 1954, he took his own life (“Alan”). After a life of service to the state and the sciences, a disregard for human rights brought on the end of a highly influential
When you think of the word successful, there are many things that come to your mind defining it. Inevitably, the word success in some way means some kind of positive progress; in a world where we stereo-type everything though, there is a perfect picture idea of what is expected to be able to fit into the category of what is known as successful. For this reason the people you think of being successful are those who are the most well-known and wealthy; those we classify as celebrities or famous. Margaret Mead says, "For many Americans, the concept of success is a source of confusion. As a people, we Americans greatly prize success. We are taught to celebrate and admire the one who gets the highest grades, the one voted
Success, whether you achieve it by getting a perfect ACT score, becoming a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, or through a sticker for getting all your spelling words correct, achieving success can be accomplished in any way. The meaning of success to me is when one ambitiously works hard and takes the utmost advantages to a certain extent. This past summer I was given a great opportunity to read a story by Malcolm Gladwell called Outliers: The Story of Success in which Gladwell refutes the standard argument that successful people are so simply because they put in a whole lot of hard work and effort. Alternatively, Gladwell offers the thesis that "people don't rise from nothing"; instead, successful people are "beneficiaries of hidden
Malcom Gladwell's book, "Outliers, The Story of Success", depicts what he believes to be the key to a true success in any field, opportunity. He refers to opportunity as being the one thing that differentiates between the people who make it in this world and those who don't. In the first two chapters, Gladwell refers to specific people who have been extremely successful in their fields of expertise: The Beatles, Bill Gates, and Bill Joy. Each of these people are very well known because of what they have contributed to society.
What is success? Most of you would think about a big house, luxury cars, a bedroom sized armoire and a king of an empire. You might also know some riches around the globe, who are self-made personalities. Are they really by themselves? Here is what Malcolm Gladwell thinks about success. In his book outliers: The story of success, Gladwell talks about the different tactics of success and discusses about the rules for being successful. Gladwell probes the lives of the great unwashed people, who are phenomenally more successful than others. These people are known to possess talent and intelligence, with the aim of finding out what qualities make them stand out from the crowd, Gladwell challenges our usual assumptions about
Success comes from self-determination, motivation, and hard work – that was the message I received from reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell helped me understand that the outliers mentioned in the book didn’t gain their success easily. Some may have had lucky opportunities and where born in the right year, but they had to work hard, they were smart, and out of their achievements, they made an impact on society. Prior to reading Outliers, I was lost among the success of others because I thought these people came from wealthy families, which meant they had a head start, but I was wrong. Success has a different meaning to everyone, but the commonalities of success are the advantages and opportunities given to us.
When I think of wildly successful people, people like Michelle Obama and Steve Jobs come to mind; my name usually does not appear on the list. Granted, I have not invented anything of use to the general public, or dedicated my life to any worthy cause, nor am I making oodles of money by anyone’s standards. But in other ways, am I not as successful as them? I have (generally) earned good grades, I have great friends, I am hardworking and independent, and I have skills that many people do not have. However, in the same vein, how much of my success can I really claim as my own? Just like Malcolm Gladwell observed in his book Outliers, there is always a lot more to success than there appears to be—and as I found out in the course of analyzing
Success is an effective word that society uses to define what set of achievements an individual creates for themselves. Based on society, success is one’s ability, intelligence, and how gifted an individual is. However, In “Outliers The Story of Success” Malcolm Gladwell argues that it does not matter if an individual is talented, smart, or driven, it does not mean that they will achieve up to their full abilities. Gladwell believes that the way to success is by an endless amount of practice, timing, and opportunity one is given and whether or not the individual sees and takes advantage of that opportunity.
In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says extraordinary success is not about how hard a person works, but it is really the “hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies” (Gladwell 19). While a person’s background and opportunities are important in a person’s success, it is not until a person chooses to take advantage of the opportunities they have been given can they truly become successful. Many groups that Gladwell mentions in Outliers such as Ted Friedman, the Beatles, and Robert Oppenheimer became achieved all their accomplishments because they took advantage of the opportunities they were given.
Being successful in life is not always easy, because of different ways that success can be achieved. With many theories out there on success, it is hard to figure out what is needed to be done to gain success. In everyone’s lives there are many different beliefs out there that can lead to it. In the book “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, there are numerous theories that are covered with examples of successful people. They clearly show how success can be done in not just one way but in many others. The most known people that are considered to be successful are billionaires and celebrities. They all have gained success in their lives in their own diverse ways. A good set of successful people in the world today to talk about are Mark Zuckerberg, Whitney Houston, and Nicholas Sparks. These people all come from different backgrounds before gaining their success. Malcolm Gladwell discussed many theories in the book “Outliers” that can relate to the success of the people mentioned above. The true knowledge behind success can be achieved in numerous ways.
These successful people are dedicated and are more appreciative for what they have because they know how hard they worked to reach their goals. A worn out old Honda from the early 2000’s bought by a high school student working part time can mean so much more than a brand new 2017 Lexus some rich teenager bought with their parents money. The time and effort put forth by those who achieve their goals like buying a car make them more successful than those who are given what they have without working for it. Likewise, those who are given certain spots in activities like a club or a sports team only because of their family, money, or popularity are unsuccessful as well. Someone who barely made it into a club or sports team due to their hard work is the more successful one because again the spot wasn’t just handed to them. Therefore, the people who are most successful are often not famous or have a lot of novelties rather are those who are the most dedicated and work their hardest to attain their
Success is a relative term. To a wealthy CEO, success is making his business one million in sales that day. To a child living on the streets, eating dinner that day is a success. What someone might not see though is that the child can teach the businessman a thing or two about about how to live life: humility. Realising that there is more to life than monetary gains, some people just need to appreciate meeting their basic needs. Furthermore, this easy lesson of humility provides the people living in wealth with a sense of how privileged they are.
How the world defines success varies from one's personal achievements and the culture from which that motivation to succeed grows. What is to say the worlds greatest achievement is the ability to praise the very accomplishment of others, or perhaps its biggest atrocity. The success of others is often viewed not in their achievement that originally made them a successor, but what that prosperity has done. What is the atrocity of success is not its foundation, but the multitude of fortune’s it might bring. Such fortunes include money, popularity, and power. No “successful” person is absent of these staples to their success. Perhaps what is worse is how success, in its most prevalent form, creates sentiments of exclusivism.
In many instances, those who are successful are made out to be some sort of separate breed, those who were innately able to perform remarkable feats that others, no matter how hard they tried, simply could not. Through this exhibition, many people view success as an elusive feature that only a select few can obtain. This theory is the main inspiration for Malcolm Gladwell’s exploration of success in Outliers: The Story of Success. In the book, Gladwell analyzes not only those who are successful, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, J.R. Oppenheimer, and Joe Flom, but what path led them towards becoming exceptionally skilled. This extremely in-depth analysis of successfulness forms Gladwell’s layered theory of what creates success, and his attempt
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word success is defined as, “The fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame.” While this definition is fairly clear, I believe that success has a much deeper meaning, one of which invokes an image of dignity, appreciation, and honor. With this definition of successful, I believe that the only truly successful man I know of is my mother, and while she is not a man, she is just as rich in success as any male in the world. My mom has created herself a tiny slice of happiness for herself and my small family, and along the way she has given away many smiles and laughs when her own happiness was not in ample supply. However, in Things Fall Apart achievement is hardly ever counted
Most people in today’s society define success as someone who makes a lot of money or has done something important to help form today’s society. People such as Bill Gates or Donald Trump are considered successful because they have lots of money. Even actors whose lives are wrecked and destroyed are considered successful because of the money they have. Others, like Thomas Edison, are considered successful because of accomplishments they achieved in their lives. Thomas Edison, for example, created the light bulb, so most people would consider him successful. In his book, Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill gives 13 steps on how to have the right mindset, attitude, and ability to become successful.