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Argumentative Essay On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

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Is it coincidental that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Bill Joy and a myriad of other multi-millionaires were all born within a span of 3 years? Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, suspects that there is more behind this occurrence than just a simple coincidence. He asserts that there is no such thing as a self-made man and that success does not come from natural talent, rather it comes from extraordinary opportunities and hidden advantages. In Outliers, Gladwell attempts to debunk the myth that people are successful all because of themselves, However, Malcolm Gladwell recognizes that success is intangible without ardor and hard work. He synthesizes a coherent set of logical arguments, by discussing the advantages of birth dates, stating the …show more content…

For example, Chris Langan claims that, “[he hasn’t] met anybody who was as poor when they were kids as [his] family was” (Gladwell 91). He attended Reed College since he was able to get a scholarship from them. Unfortunately, his mother forgot to submit his financial aid form after the first semester and this spurred up another array of issues. Although Langan’s intellect was exceedingly high, his lack of persistence and poverty led to him being held back from his full potential. On the other hand, Bill Gates was able to benefit from his family background. There were nine extraordinary opportunities given to Bill Gates which allowed him to be able to practice and fulfill the “10,000 hour” rule. Of these nine opportunities, the most crucial one could not occur in the absence of his family's wealth. Gate’s parents sent him to Lakeside, a private school where he would become fond of a computer programming club. Whereas Bill Joy struggled to find a computer to program on as a college student, “Bill Gates got to do real-time programming as an eighth grader in 1968” (Gladwell 51). From there on, Gates was given several more opportunities such as a chance to program for free at C-Cubed. If he had been raised in poverty similar to Langan, Gates’ success could have pivoted in a completely different

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