Background Information
作者Malcolm Gladwell
這本書，說的是outlier，當然要好好了解下作者家世和職涯背景拉
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born September 3, 1963) is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and speaker. His mother is a psychotherapist. His father is a mathematics professor from Kent, England.
In the spring of 1982,Gladwell interned with the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. He graduated with a degree in History from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, Toronto, in 1984. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He began to publish his books since 2000 in a pace of 3 years a book.
In a personal elucidation of the 10,000 hour rule he popularized in Outliers, Gladwell notes, "I was a basket case at the beginning, and I felt like an expert at the end. It took 10 years—exactly that long."
书籍Outliers
Gladwell's books and articles often deal with the unexpected implications of research inthe social sciences and make frequent and extended useof academic work, particularly in the areas of sociology, psychology,and social psychology.
There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them-at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth date.
Words ＆ phrases
学习段落一：本段用了score, fire, answer, pull四個動詞，活靈活現描寫球賽
Team1 scored first, early in the second period,on a rebound by X1.
Late in the second period, it was Team2's turn, as the team's scoring leader, Y1, fired a quick shot past Team1's goalie, X2.
Team1 answered in the third period,scoring the game's deciding goal, and then, when Team2 pulled its goalie in desperation, Team1 scored a third time.
Score
gain (a point, goal, run, etc.) in a competitive game.
Penn State scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter
on the rebound
becoming stronger or better again
Wall Street is on the rebound a day after stock prices plunged to new lows.
Improved housing and rising rents are both signs of a community on the rebound.
recovering from the recent end of a romantic relationship
You're a great guy, but I'm still on there bound and I'm just not ready to start seeing anyone.
pull the goalie
The team that pulls its goalie leaves its net empty. Of course, it isn’t safe to pull a goalie, so the strategy would be use unless the puck is at the far end of the ice and at the final 60 to 90 seconds.(因為是危急策略，所以他的搭配是in desperation)
Its derivation means a married couple stopping the use of contraceptive devices in the hopes of conceiving a child.
学习段落二：
本段用了sift, sort, evaluate, separate out, groom for四個動詞，活靈活現描寫meritocracy
Canadian hockey is a meritocracy. Thousands of Canadian boys begin to play the sport at the "novice" level, before they are even in kindergarten. From that point on, there are leagues for every age class, and at each of those levels, the players are sifted and sorted and evaluated, with the most talented separated out and groomed for the next level.
Sift
put (a fine, loose, or powdery substance) through a sieve so as to remove lumps or large particles.
sift the flour into a large bowl
examine (something) thoroughly so as to isolate that which is most important or useful.
until we sift the evidence ourselves, we can't comment objectively
groom verb
look after the coat of (a horse, dog, or other animal) by brushing and cleaning it.
you must be prepared to spend time grooming your dog
prepare or
train (someone) for a particular purpose or activity.
star pupils who are groomed for higher things
Summary
Begins from a story of Canadian hockey, the author illustrates how the most strong and skilled one is separated out from the average Joe and groomed for the next level. The story seems no more than an example about how the talented stands out through meritocratic system, but the author questions how the talented is picked out.
Canadian school year is cutting off at January, so if you are born in the beginning of year, you will be one of the oldest member in your class, and thus you tend to have bigger figure than your colleges born at the end of year. It turns out that the cutoff date has phenomenal effect. Since a stronger body is exaggeratedly priced in hockey world, most outstanding hockey players in Canada were born in either January, February or March.
Through this small story, Gladwellchallenge the necessary elements we’ve thought to the path of success, and inthis book he will explore more stories of outliers.
心得
這個故事在經濟學界廣為人知，基本上只要涉及統計資料處理議題，教授就會把這故事說一次。但誠如開頭作者介紹中所引述的，Gladwell的特點在於懂得重新包裝這些社科發現，透過「挑戰你對成功的想像」包裝，讓這個發現具有人文意涵。對如何用經濟工具顛覆常識有興趣的盆友們，可以參考Steven
Levitt的書，如他的《蘋果橘子經濟學》
