Outliers - My Rosetta Mystery

Josh et al (2000) suggested that Social Capital was an important explanation regarding health issues. Supporting the theory that life chances are influenced by social environment and the people around us (Holborn, Burrage and Langley, 2009).

As I read Outliers, an excellent book by Malcom Gladwell also author of the Tipping Point one of my favorite marketing books I couldn’t help being reminded of the movie Good Will Hunting. There is a particular scene in the movie where Matt Damon, playing a poor teen from Southern Boston confronts a wealthy MIT student. Damon tells him, “You were born on third base and you think you hit a triple.” In other words, we often over-attribute our successes to our natural talents. But really, those talents and abilities came about through a series of explainable, fortunate circumstances that we should recognize, learn to use wisely and be grateful for.

The Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell attempts to explain the reasons why people become successful in both controlled and uncontrolled environment. He uses different stories and studies to explain what makes a person who there are. For example, in chapter one Gladwell says that successful hockey players if born early in the calendar year this will make them stand out physically among other boys who are several months younger than they are. Gladwell says that over time, the opportunities that these players have has help them build up to make them better players. So, Gladwell uses a sociological perspective to try to explain the reasons for people's success.

In a world where heart disease was a leading cause of death, many scientists struck an interest with the town of Roseto, which had an inexplicable resistance to heart disease. Specifically a physician named Stewart Wolf. Wolf went on to study the town of the Roseto to find out why these people aren’t suffering from the heart disease epidemic. He looked everywhere until he realized it was their diets, exercise, or even the location of the town, it was the community that gave them resistance to the diseases. Malcolm Gladwell establishes the idea of the positive effects of a strong community through the town of Roseto. He says that although diet and exercise may be important to maintaining good health, a sense of community can be just as effective to the end goal of success, an idea that can be applied to many fields, not just medicine. Malcolm Gladwell goes on to say, “The values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.” Gladwell also pushes the idea that the environment we surround ourselves in makes a huge difference on who you are and can even affect something as big as your health.

Regardless of location, age, sex, or cultural identity, everyone strives for success. Like most people, I associated success with hard work, intelligence, talent, and a striving for greatness that is present in many but perseveres for few. However, Malcom Gladwell’s novel, Outliers: The Story of Success, compared Canadian hockey players, Silicon Valley geniuses, Korean pilots and Asian mathematicians to propose the concept that success does not inherently form from hard work and skill alone, but comes from everything from time of birth to cultural respect; after seeing the results, Gladwell convinced me.

Times Square in New York City, Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., and Denali National Park in George Parks, Alaska. The moments I spent in these places are characterized by my ability to roam for hours and just explore. Whether it be meeting street artists who are creating caricatures of tourists, running into John Kerry, finding grizzly bears in their natural habitat, these moments weren’t just mundane hours; they ushered in the notion of mindfulness. Every instant during these trips, I thought of living in the moment and not dwell on the past or the future. The unknown experiences that awaited me as the day progressed in these places correlate my ability to finally embrace one idea:

The outliers I have grown up hearing about include Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. These people, just like any other extremely successful people, work harder than everybody else to be to where they are. Also, they are willing to fail, because they know that in order to succeed they must learn from their failures. Clearly, to become extremely successful a person has to have that burning passion for what he or she does, has to do more than what is required, and has to be talented. Talent alone is not enough to become the world’s next billionaire. Talent, preparation, opportunity, and connections are needed to become an outlier. In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell shows just how equally important luck and opportunity is to

Born in Hampshire, England on September 3, 1963 to parents Joyce Gladwell and Graham Gladwell, Malcolm T. Gladwell was intrigued by the fundamental ideas of mathematics and psychology from a young age. After graduating from the University of Toronto, and accepting some not so appealing jobs, he finally landed a spot on the staff of The New Yorker. Spending time on this fast-paced journalistic endeavor and writing some out-of-the-ordinary pieces inspired Gladwell to go back to his roots, and explore the principals of psychology. In 2008, he published his third book, Outliers: A Story of Success. This novel explores the circumstances in which people are given the opportunity to be successful in their respective fields, based on their surroundings, along with personal drive, and perseverance to be the best. Gladwell wrote this novel to give his audience an in-depth explanation of the fact that people such as athletes, actors, and millionaires don’t simply become something from nothing based on luck- they must put in the work to be successful.

The social determinants presented in a neighborhood in which you reside evoke different health outcomes. For examples factors related to health such as walking distance, the number of recreational facilities, accessibility of healthful foods, etc. all matter to your health. As stated in the film, “health is embedded in the larger conditions in which we live and work”. Cardiologist David Weiland determined that socioeconomic factors such as income, wealth and education contribute to a wide range of health outcomes thus shaping the entirety of health for an individual.

Eating a healthy diet is instrumental in the reduction of the risk factors for several major diseases. Obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are a few of the risk factors that serve as precursors to major diseases, and can be controlled with healthy eating.

When in reality that idealistic health is not always accurate or achievable. These health rules can become so discouraging and overwhelming that we give up all together. Thus, in this book Alice and Susan tries to alleviate the stress, guilt and pressure placed on following these strict and possibly unhealthy regimens and rules. They will sift through common health rules to determine what is really true and realistic. That way we as readers will have enough evidence to decide what is appropriate for us and create our own perfect health zones that accommodates life’s many variations. The book so clearly states that “there is no single, uniquely correct way to be health; there are many… a healthy life can and should be simple and enjoyable… [our] goal is to be healthy—not a fanatic—and to live a little” (Love & Domar,

Healthy eating can decrease the risk of many problems that are on the rise such as obesity, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes.

Humans have been around for many centuries. In this century, we are growing more aware of the negative effects illness and stress have on the human body. We are also becoming aware of the necessary steps needed to be healthy and accomplish a longer life span. With the ever-growing number of diseases around the human population, it is imperative that humans realize the importance of being healthy. People believe health is attained by just eating healthy foods, and exercising but that is not the case. Different components compile a human beings overall health; the components are called six different dimensions. The different dimensions are physical, psychological, spiritual, social, intellectual, and

In society today, there is an extensive range of definitions of health and wellbeing which can be seen as both positive and negative. A Holistic view can also be identified and defined. These definitions of health have changed over time and will carry on changing within the future. According to where a family lives or their social class everyone will have different meanings and views of health and wellbeing. This may be due to what one person perceives as being healthy as another person may not. Channel 4 learning (no date) describes that a positive view of health can be seen as when a person is more likely to achieve and sustain physical fitness from exercising and are mentally stable. Therefor a negative view can be described when a

“By eating healthy you are boosting your energy levels, improving your bodily Functions and helping to improve your immune. By eating a healthy diet and combining this with exercise you could end up living a longer more vibrant life” (Bruton, 2009.p1). When people eat healthy it helps them have more energy, and having more energy will