The Matthew Effect free essay sample

In The Matthew Effect chapter of Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell states that a person’s success s attributed to the timing of their birth date as it relates to the cut-off dates of sports and education. He believes that this one random date is the start of a series of advantages that can ultimately lead to success. Although timing of a birth date and opportunities can play a significant factor in one’s success, they are not the sole determination of success. Gladwell fails to acknowledge the vital role an individual’s ambition and natural born talent play in creating success or the crucial impact family influences can have on one’s success. Over-Simplified Since Biblical times, groups of people were separated by the haves and the have not’s. Matthew 25:29 states â€Å"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. We will write a custom essay sample on The Matthew Effect or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † (Gladwell, 2008, p. 15) In chapter 1, of the Outliers (2008), Malcolm Gladwell has a similar argument in â€Å"The Matthew Effect†. He argues that personal success is attributed to hidden advantages, such as someone’s birth date, which in turn, creates opportunity through accumulative advantages. (pg. 19) Gladwell calls these successful people â€Å"outliers† which he defines as â€Å"men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary† (pg. 17). Although timing of a birth date and opportunities play a significant factor in one’s success, Gladwell’s theory that those are the sole determination of success is over simplified because it does not take into consideration the impact of one’s individual ambition, talent, and family influences. Ambition In Outliers, Gladwell states that â€Å"people don’t rise from nothing† (pg. 19) and completely discounts the role an individual’s ambition plays in achieving success. When a student, or an athlete, possesses a strong desire for success, regardless of their age or birth date, it drives them to excel beyond the normal range. A perfect example of this would be a young girl named Stephanie Bradley. She wanted to be a doctor. Stephanie grew up in a small blue collar community in rural Texas. Her parents were not college educated and lived just slightly above the poverty line. She attended a small, public, 2A high school, with average teachers. In addition, she was the youngest in her class, in cases, by more than a year because of a mid-July birthday. What set her apart from the other students was her desire for success and her passion for medicine. This ambition drove her to work hard and smart, stay focused, and never take her eye off her ultimate goal. Along the way, she made sacrifices, but never veered off course. She didn’t have any opportunities above and beyond ones she created on her own. Born With It Sheer talent is another key factor responsible for success and lies with the group of athletes that achieve success without the benefit accumulative advantages. These are the athletes who are born with a talent that supersedes the skill of other athletes. There is a difference between skill and talent. Skill is something that requires training and experience to do well, whereas, talent is a natural ability to compete with exceptional ability. (Bing dictionary, 2014) While this talent is rare to find, when it exist, these athletes can find success regardless of where their birthday falls on a calendar. One such athlete exists right now on a local high school swim team. Taylor is a high school freshman who didn’t compete in little league sports, since his parents were more artsy than athletic and they never had the financial resources to pay for extracurricular activities. In his freshman year, a friend asked him to join the swim team. Having never competed athletically, Taylor was hesitant but agreed. To everyone’s amazement, he medaled at his first swim meet. Not just in one event, but two. The next week, more success, more wins. His very first year swimming, he won at district, regional’s and is ranked 4th in the state. There is now talk of Olympic trials. He has competed and won against athletes who have been swimming since the age of four, have logged thousands of hours in the pool, and whose parents have spend enormous amounts of money on private coaches. However, Taylor wins having never received those types of opportunities. He wins because of his natural born talent. Family An individual’s family influences can also have a crucial impact on one’s success. While Gladwell acknowledges that heritage and culture plan a role in success or failure as illustrated in the Harlan, Kentucky and The Ethic Theory of Plane Crashes chapters, he doesn’t credit directly, the parents, grandparents, as well as, siblings that can provide a fundamental element in creating success. For example, if a parent has a strong desire to pass along their knowledge or skills in a particular sport, they are likely to start that process at a very early age which results in increased practice time developing the child’s skill. This parent might also supply additional training above and beyond what a typical coach would provide. The family could also have connections with coaches or teachers that allow for added instruction. Siblings can also push individuals to a higher level of performance. For example, having an older brother who plays baseball with a younger sibling will be providing further exposure that can develop their skills. All this additional training and experience can develop a child ahead of the curve, regardless of their birth date. The Other 32% Gladwell’s example of the roster of hockey players on the Medicine Hat team showed that â€Å"seventeen of the twenty-five players on the team† (pg. 23) had the perfect birth month for the sport. He credited their January, February, March and April birthdays for their success. However, that means that eight out of the twenty-five players (32%) on the team were successful, without the benefit of the perfect birth month. This group isn’t the largest percentage of players on the team but it does show that success isn’t based on just one factor. Gladwell’s argument that success stems from hidden advantages and opportunities created by those advantages is true in some cases; successful people are not created from one formula, such as what month their birthday falls. That is just one piece of the picture of success. There are a multitude of factors i. e. ambition, talent and family that play a role in determining why someone is successful and they all need to be encouraged and promoted. The Matthew Effect free essay sample The Matthew Effect chapter of Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell states that a person’s success s attributed to the timing of their birth date as it relates to the cut-off dates of sports and education. He believes that this one random date is the start of a series of advantages that can ultimately lead to success. Although timing of a birth date and opportunities can play a significant factor in one’s success, they are not the sole determination of success. Gladwell fails to acknowledge the vital role an individual’s ambition and natural born talent play in creating success or the crucial impact family influences can have on one’s success. Over-Simplified Since Biblical times, groups of people were separated by the haves and the have not’s. Matthew 25:29 states â€Å"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. We will write a custom essay sample on The Matthew Effect or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † (Gladwell, 2008, p. 15) In chapter 1, of the Outliers (2008), Malcolm Gladwell has a similar argument in â€Å"The Matthew Effect†. He argues that personal success is attributed to hidden advantages, such as someone’s birth date, which in turn, creates opportunity through accumulative advantages. (pg. 19) Gladwell calls these successful people â€Å"outliers† which he defines as â€Å"men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary† (pg. 17). Although timing of a birth date and opportunities play a significant factor in one’s success, Gladwell’s theory that those are the sole determination of success is over simplified because it does not take into consideration the impact of one’s individual ambition, talent, and family influences. Ambition In Outliers, Gladwell states that â€Å"people don’t rise from nothing† (pg. 19) and completely discounts the role an individual’s ambition plays in achieving success. When a student, or an athlete, possesses a strong desire for success, regardless of their age or birth date, it drives them to excel beyond the normal range. A perfect example of this would be a young girl named Stephanie Bradley. She wanted to be a doctor. Stephanie grew up in a small blue collar community in rural Texas. Her parents were not college educated and lived just slightly above the poverty line. She attended a small, public, 2A high school, with average teachers. In addition, she was the youngest in her class, in cases, by more than a year because of a mid-July birthday. What set her apart from the other students was her desire for success and her passion for medicine. This ambition drove her to work hard and smart, stay focused, and never take her eye off her ultimate goal. Along the way, she made sacrifices, but never veered off course. She didn’t have any opportunities above and beyond ones she created on her own. Born With It Sheer talent is another key factor responsible for success and lies with the group of athletes that achieve success without the benefit accumulative advantages. These are the athletes who are born with a talent that supersedes the skill of other athletes. There is a difference between skill and talent. Skill is something that requires training and experience to do well, whereas, talent is a natural ability to compete with exceptional ability. (Bing dictionary, 2014) While this talent is rare to find, when it exist, these athletes can find success regardless of where their birthday falls on a calendar. One such athlete exists right now on a local high school swim team. Taylor is a high school freshman who didn’t compete in little league sports, since his parents were more artsy than athletic and they never had the financial resources to pay for extracurricular activities. In his freshman year, a friend asked him to join the swim team. Having never competed athletically, Taylor was hesitant but agreed. To everyone’s amazement, he medaled at his first swim meet. Not just in one event, but two. The next week, more success, more wins. His very first year swimming, he won at district, regional’s and is ranked 4th in the state. There is now talk of Olympic trials. He has competed and won against athletes who have been swimming since the age of four, have logged thousands of hours in the pool, and whose parents have spend enormous amounts of money on private coaches. However, Taylor wins having never received those types of opportunities. He wins because of his natural born talent. Family An individual’s family influences can also have a crucial impact on one’s success. While Gladwell acknowledges that heritage and culture plan a role in success or failure as illustrated in the Harlan, Kentucky and The Ethic Theory of Plane Crashes chapters, he doesn’t credit directly, the parents, grandparents, as well as, siblings that can provide a fundamental element in creating success. For example, if a parent has a strong desire to pass along their knowledge or skills in a particular sport, they are likely to start that process at a very early age which results in increased practice time developing the child’s skill. This parent might also supply additional training above and beyond what a typical coach would provide. The family could also have connections with coaches or teachers that allow for added instruction. Siblings can also push individuals to a higher level of performance. For example, having an older brother who plays baseball with a younger sibling will be providing further exposure that can develop their skills. All this additional training and experience can develop a child ahead of the curve, regardless of their birth date. The Other 32% Gladwell’s example of the roster of hockey players on the Medicine Hat team showed that â€Å"seventeen of the twenty-five players on the team† (pg. 23) had the perfect birth month for the sport. He credited their January, February, March and April birthdays for their success. However, that means that eight out of the twenty-five players (32%) on the team were successful, without the benefit of the perfect birth month. This group isn’t the largest percentage of players on the team but it does show that success isn’t based on just one factor. Gladwell’s argument that success stems from hidden advantages and opportunities created by those advantages is true in some cases; successful people are not created from one formula, such as what month their birthday falls. That is just one piece of the picture of success. There are a multitude of factors i. e. ambition, talent and family that play a role in determining why someone is successful and they all need to be encouraged and promoted.

Free Essays on Jackson Vs. Jefferson

Compare and contrast the political philosophies and policies of Jefferson and Jackson. Both Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson brought an amazing era that made a great impact in America. However, although these two men had many similarities, they also had many differences in their political philosophies and policies. In terms of political philosophies, Jefferson and Jackson both favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution. For instance, Jefferson was against Hamilton’s financial plan with the Bank of the United States because he felt that the Constitution did not specifically authorize Congress to pass such bills. For the very same reason, Jackson did not like the Bank of the United States during his time because he too felt that it was unconstitutional. However, during Jefferson’s time, his views on a strict interpretation of the Constitution changed. Jefferson knew that the government couldn’t add new territory or grant American citizenship to the 50,000 residents in the Louisiana Territory in 1803 under the Constitution, but under these circumstances he used a loose interpretation of the Constitution and had the senate ratify the treaty of the Louisiana Purchase. With the national debt, both men had great desires to abolish it. Jefferson lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million and Jackson in 1836 had the whole nation totally debt free. During their campaigns, both men stated that they were for the common man, but their views and actions for the common man varied. Jefferson felt that an ordinary citizen could be educated to determine that which was right while Jackson felt that an ordinary citizen knew that which was right from his own instincts. Jefferson and Jackson both supported the fact that the majority should rule. However, Jackson did more to get the common people involved in the national government. He set up more secondary schools to help in the improvement of knowledge and... Free Essays on Jackson Vs. Jefferson Free Essays on Jackson Vs. Jefferson Compare and contrast the political philosophies and policies of Jefferson and Jackson. Both Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson brought an amazing era that made a great impact in America. However, although these two men had many similarities, they also had many differences in their political philosophies and policies. In terms of political philosophies, Jefferson and Jackson both favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution. For instance, Jefferson was against Hamilton’s financial plan with the Bank of the United States because he felt that the Constitution did not specifically authorize Congress to pass such bills. For the very same reason, Jackson did not like the Bank of the United States during his time because he too felt that it was unconstitutional. However, during Jefferson’s time, his views on a strict interpretation of the Constitution changed. Jefferson knew that the government couldn’t add new territory or grant American citizenship to the 50,000 residents in the Louisiana Territory in 1803 under the Constitution, but under these circumstances he used a loose interpretation of the Constitution and had the senate ratify the treaty of the Louisiana Purchase. With the national debt, both men had great desires to abolish it. Jefferson lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million and Jackson in 1836 had the whole nation totally debt free. During their campaigns, both men stated that they were for the common man, but their views and actions for the common man varied. Jefferson felt that an ordinary citizen could be educated to determine that which was right while Jackson felt that an ordinary citizen knew that which was right from his own instincts. Jefferson and Jackson both supported the fact that the majority should rule. However, Jackson did more to get the common people involved in the national government. He set up more secondary schools to help in the improvement of knowledge and...

5 home remedies to end fatigue

5 home remedies to end fatigue With the current rhythm of life that we have, stress and other situations that arise can end up producing excessive fatigue or fatigue. This time we will talk about 5 home remedies to combat fatigue and that will come very well to people who feel exhausted throughout the day or just to start the day with much more energy. Royal jelly This is undoubtedly one of the best home remedies to combat fatigue that in addition to providing a lot of energy naturally stimulates the bodys defenses. By taking royal jelly, we increase physical and mental capacity, as well as increasing our appetite and sexual energy. It is also good to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, improve digestive health and protect against many diseases. Ginseng The properties of this root are really beneficial for our organism. It contains many minerals and vitamins and is another of the foods that help us a lot to combat fatigue. To make ginseng one of the ways in which we can prepare it is making tea . In a cup of water we toss 1 gram of dried and ground ginseng root. Once it breaks to boil, we remove it from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes. If we want its effect to be even more powerful we can add honey to it. Ginkgo biloba It is another plant that provides a lot of vitality and is another of the home remedies for fatigue that should always be available. It contains many therapeutic organic substances such as flavonoids and biflavones that are powerful antioxidants. In addition to giving us energy also strengthens the immune system and helps in memory problems, depression, dizziness even in vision problems. It is also recommended in people who have diabetes. Milk, amaranth and honey This fourth remedy is a combination of these 3 ingredients and to make it we will do the following: In a bowl we put 300 milliliters of milk, a couple of tablespoons of amaranth and a spoonful of honey. We beat everything well and we already have a drink that will help us to finish the fatigue. The ideal is to drink it fasting so that it gives us more energy for the whole day. Special homemade juice To prepare this very energetic juice, what we will need is a bunch of spinach, a couple of stalks of celery and purified water. It is liquefied to obtain a juice that helps us not only to overcome fatigue, but also to reduce stress and reduce mental fatigue a lot. The best time of day also to take it is fasting although it can also be taken throughout the day and in this case it is best to do it when we have an empty stomach.

PATIENT SAFETY CULTURE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PATIENT SAFETY CULTURE - Essay Example At the same time, there are self-practicing doctors who provide independent medical services to patients who visit them on a regular basis and have less purchasing power. The issue of patient safety arises when the doctor wrongly prescribes a medicine to a patient which gives rise to further complications of the case. Likewise, in hospitals, the doctors wrongly input the data of the patient by way of non-standardized abbreviations that are against the rules of the hospital. These risks taken with a patient’s life can be life-threatening. Particularly, when a patient's record is mixed with another patient due to the use of non-standardized writing. In the recent decade, the issue of patient safety has been debated in the developed countries. In United Kingdom, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has been established to oversee the issue of patient safety and to develop tools to implement a patient safety culture in the hospitals and on individual basis. The NPSA aims to b ring into alignment the safety of patient with the objectives of the organizations (NPSA, 2012). To achieve this NPSA provides awareness sessions that focus on the developing capacity of the medical staff and doctors in each organization. Likewise, they create public awareness among the patients to understand the importance of patient safety and its impacts on their lives. ... information about the drug, directions for use, its side effects and any other important information that if not disclosed may result into serious situation for the patient. Claridge and Sandars (2007) highlighted that the hospitals can implement patient safety by giving due consideration to the patient’s history and other particulars before prescribing a drug. The decision to prescribe a particular drug to a patient should not be based upon precedent. Each patient is different and so is their medical history. Therefore, each patient should be prescribed a drug depending upon one’s disease, side effects, interactions, age and sex, etc. Likewise, Claridge and Sandars (2007) highlight that in case where the patient has been given a drug based on long-term should be regularly reviewed for any possible changes in their effect and dosage. Also, they recommend that in order to reduce the threats to the patient safety, it is important to provide proper education of such threat s to the patients. Thus, empowering them with the knowledge about how to ensure their safety. Spath (2002) argues that the patient safety culture is a part of every hospital and medical facility. The norms and conduct of the employees of the facility show the patient safety culture they exercise. However, Spath (2002) highlights that the culture is an on-going process which takes effect in the long-term and has a long-lasting impact. It takes time to change the culture and this culture change in the medical facilities can also be achieved with a proper procedure and systematic method. For instance, Spath (2002) postulated that the first step towards bring a culture change in the medical facility is through empowerment of the staff members instead of ensuring their involvement. For instance, the

Economics and Contemporary Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economics and Contemporary Issues - Essay Example Behind this struggle, health care costs are skyrocketing, and two primary reasons for the increase find their roots in these same two groups. Life expectancies in the country are getting longer, and the aging boomers will require more health care for longer periods f time. Funding for the existing government health care systems is declining due to the same reasons that Social Security is facing implosion. More citizens receiving benefits are fewer citizens are paying into the system. The simple equation f higher demand -plus- lower funding -plus- longer lives -equals- higher costs. Secondly, the poor, uninsured and illegal immigrants who can receive health care at any hospital are creating increased drag on a system that is already suffering. Every hospital in the country will treat any person entering its emergency wards. If the services are not paid for, the loss is applies to the bottom line, and costs increase throughout the system. A third reason for the push for Universal healthcare is the pragmatic belief that in the long run it will reduce healthcare costs in general. If preventative care is available to everyone from birth, the result will be less-costly healthcare needs in people's later years. Early preventative measures also lessen the magnitude f epidemics; when more people are immunized and have access to treatment, disease cannot spread so easily. (University Wire, 2001) Former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop recently stated: "I think I am right when I write that all Americans have the right to healthcare," Koop said. "If we agree that there is a right to healthcare, then we are also agreeing that someone must provide these rights," he said, noting that the right to healthcare is different than some other constitutional rights because it incurs a monetary cost on society. (Anand, 2000) Two year ago, in a survey f medical- school faculty and administrators published in the New England Journal f Medicine, 57 per cent said they like a single-payer universal healthcare system over either fee-for-service or managed care. Indeed, more and more doctors are now keen to work in coalitions where they learn from and fight for the needs f those whom they have traditionally considered inferiors or adversaries. (Gordon, 2000) As a result, when President Clinton ascended the podium, and declared that universal healthcare is a right which Americans shared, no one questioned where the money would come from to fund such a huge expansion f the federal bureaucracy. This has become the clearest argument for universal healthcare, the right f all people to receive healthcare, in the form f physician visits and pharmaceuticals, regardless f their socioeconomic status. (University Wire, 2001) A person who is poor should not be precluded from the benefit f healthcare simply because he or she cannot afford it. Boomers perceive universal health care as another program to benefit them, and the poor / uninsured thought they were looking at a savior. The core question to answer, however, is not whether healthcare coverage is a right or not. The costs f health care are skyrocketing, and the needs f the population are increasing. The question is: What is the most effective means f bringing down

Dworkins Belief Of Preferential Treatment :: essays research papers

Dworkin's Belief of Preferential Treatment For many years, preferential treatment has been used to try to make up for past wrong-doings to minorities. There have been many cases tried over racial discrimination, with verdicts of both innocent and guilty. Ronald Dworkin attempts to argue that preferential treatment is socially useful and at the same time does not violate people's rights. This is wrong for many reasons; here I shall illustrate how preferential treatment hinders racial equality, violates people's rights, and can lead to a lower opinion toward a particular race. Dworkin believes that continuing preferential treatment will decrease racial consciousness and the importance of race. This is the total opposite of what truly happens. If a person were to consider America's past, as an example, he would see how racially diverse people were. Now look around. Just walking across any given area, groups of people of the same race are seen walking together. Most people do not notice this, but very rarely are groups of ethnically diverse people seen. Although there are no longer any laws stating that there must be a separation between different races, people still practice it unconsciously. Dworkin states that the long-term goal of preferential treatment "is to reduce the degree to which American society is overall a racially conscious society (294)." Preferential treatment does nothing of the sort. It was used widely in the past and still exists in some areas today. It has not reduced racial consciousness, but increased it by making people think more about how many spaces are reserved for their particular race. Instead, people should think of what their chances are of getting something on account of their personal knowledge over someone else's, not even considering their race as a factor. This is evident in a black's point of view of getting into the medical school of the University of California at Davis. Sixteen places are set aside just for blacks and other minorities, no matter how low their test scores are. That way, minorities don't even have to worry about competing with whites for a position. This does not, in any way, reduce racial consciousness by setting two tracks for admission to medical school, one for the minorities, and one for the majority. Mr. Dworkin supports the idea that preferential treatment does not violate people's rights. His argument is weak here because he attempts to prove this by saying that if two things do not violate people's rights, then neither does a third. The two things that supposedly do not violate rights are the denial of someone to medical school because of their age and because their test

Organizational Theory & Research Essay

Organization is a â€Å"concept used in a variety of ways such as (1) a system or pattern of any set of relationships in any kind of undertaking; (2) an enterprise itself; (3) cooperation of two or more persons; (4) all behavior of all participants in a group; and (5) the intentional structure of roles in a formally organized enterprise† (Koontz, et. al. , 1980, p. G-11). Organization development is a â€Å"systematic, integrated, and planned approach to improve the effectiveness of people and groups in a enterprise through the use of techniques for problem discovery and various intervention techniques for solving these problems† (Koontz, et. l. , 1980, p. G-11). One of the key aspects of managing is â€Å"organizing† and it is a skill required of any manager if he or she is to be effective and successful in attaining organizational objectives and effecting change (see Koontz, et. al, 1980, p. 330). Management literature has acknowledged that people tend to cooperate with one another in the face of a crisis because man has learned that it is better to cooperate than to compete with one another. In cooperative activities, goals or objectives are achieved much easier than when individual persons act separately in attempting to achieve a group goal or objective. Organizing involves identifying the right people to involve in the design, development, and implementation of the process of problem identification and problem solving. One requirement of effective organizing is knowledge of the fundamental nature of group dynamics. When two or more people are formed to work on a particular task, they usually undergo certain stages of group development. These are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. During the â€Å"forming† stage, group members tend to be cautious and almost become aware of each word that each says to others; in the â€Å"storming† stage, members become impatient of formalities and tend to express themselves and demonstrate antagonism and sarcasm; in the â€Å"norming† stage, members learn to tolerate frustrations and become more acceptable of other members of the group; in the â€Å"performing† stage, team members has put aside their differences and concentrate on the objectives of the group, thereby performing to the fullest and achieving their preset goals and objectives; in the â€Å"adjourning† stage, group members have achieved their objectives and disbands themselves and return to their home organizations or department.