Posted on 12/19/2008 9:53:49 PM PST by neverdem
Bill Gates came from a wealthy family. He attended exclusive private academies, not public schools.
It also helped that his mother sat on the board of United Way with the president of IBM.
His family was well enough off to give him an excellent education, but not really wealthy. It was his vision and drive (and a good deal of luck) that put him where he is today.
We have a popular culture that celebrates mindless thuggery. Add to that schools where almost all of the resources are spent in trying to keep the “slow” children from bring disruptive. A bright child is likely to be mistreated by his peers and ignored by adults. A lot of bright (or just average) children do not reach their potential because everything is focused on making the bad kids 1% less bad.
HUH? One exports to other cultures, and imports from other cultures. What is the author trying to say?
She goes on to say we should take a clue from the Chinese, completely ignoring our own history of the "Protestant Work Ethic" that came to this continent in the 1600s with our earliest European settlers, built this country to the pinnacle of creativity and innovation over our first 300 years, and was often referenced as a cultural standard -- until the anti-establishmentarian 60s and its disastrous aftermath.
Some interesting and well put together negative reviews of this book at Amazon (link above).
bump for later read
Money counts for a lot.
A lot of people are just born into a situation where they will start life with confidence, two parents, physical health, stylish clothes, good hair cuts, good teeth, decent cars, guitars and pianos, and be guaranteed at least a bachelors degree.
Look at Mensa, many people have the IQ, but they never get off of the ground.
Nancy Pelosi is one of the most powerful women in history.
The starting point plays a role in life.
Middle class is a great starting point, upper middle class is approaching a guarantee, and rich? Well no one admits to being rich.
I find the “10,000 hours of practice” note to be fascinating.
Intelligence has a lot to do with where one end’s up, but not everything. I think passion and interest has a lot to do with it as well. Without that, you don’t put 10,000 hours into anything.
I really do wonder where my son will end up. He’s a bright, gifted speaker with a remarkable memory.
But he spends all of his free time working at his home-made forge. ~:-\
“I really do wonder where my son will end up. He’s a bright, gifted speaker with a remarkable memory.
But he spends all of his free time working at his home-made forge. ~:-\”
Wow, What do those symbols mean?
Well, there’s good money to be made in forgery.
~:-\”
ping
Genius is in the eye of the man made rich by it.
And many good positions are now open on wall street!!
Gladwell is half black like our own King Tarzan Obama - Jamaican mom I believe, so he is troubled by his success when contrasted with other blacks... however Jamaicans have done well as immigrants compared to other black immigrants.
One thing I found funny is the analysis of the crime wave that wasn’t in “The Tipping Point” and the same analysis was done by Stephen P. Leavitt in “Freakonomics”. After reading the two stories, I think that Leavitt nailed it and Gladwell had it all wrong.
These organizations are social clubs where you see how many you can get to join and Mensa is pretty near the bottom IQ wise.
There used to be an ongoing battle to see who could create a society that the fewest people could qualify to join.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.