...Response to Gladwell’s Research In his book, David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell does not teach us “the Art of Battling Giants” as the title suggests, however he makes very interesting points based on his research about underdogs and the big fish/small pond effect. He does this by telling us stories about some of the underdogs themselves. I agree with Gladwell’s research about underdogs and the big fish/small pond effect, because I have experienced being a big and small fish. Back in sixth grade, I chose to take Karate classes and I found myself to be very skilled at the techniques we learned. I worked hard and practiced during...
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...This theory would imply that inborn fate and innate evil are not what drives a juvenile to becoming a lifelong criminal and deviant, but instead, the “fate” that’s is tagged on by society and enforced by the conscience. According to a study performed in Malcolm Gladwell’s psychology book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, a person’s “self-identity” in college is just as important as the student’s actual intelligence. Gladwell begins to explain that if you are in a class where you feel smart (or have a positive self-identity); you will perform extraordinarily better on examinations. On the contrary, even though one is highly intelligent, if they are in a class containing students who are smarter than they are, then they will feel less smart and perform worse on examinations. If we compare college students to juvenile’s delinquency, we can get a better idea on how the self-fulfilling prophecy operates. If a society treats someone like a criminal, regardless of the offender’s...
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...By definition, a leader is someone who guides, directs and inspires people. From Julius Cesar, to Napoleon all the way to Steve Jobs, many influential people have been pinpointed as great leaders throughout history. These people have been scrutinized, thoroughly studied in an attempt to understand what makes a great leader, what makes someone an inspirational, influential person. There is a multitude of different theories and models of leadership, which evolve or become outdated as the world changes and studies multiply. For instance, in the 1930s, the developed trait theory of leadership focused on specific physical and psychological attributes positively correlated to leadership effectiveness. In this view, people are ‘born’ leaders dividing the population into leaders and non-leaders. Early trait theorists assumed that one’s personality defined their potential to be great leaders no matter the context. As a result, the situational approach to leadership emerged and the focus turned to behaviors around the 1960s. As opposed to the traits theory, it gave leadership a dynamic dimension: the environmental factors play a role in dividing people into leaders and followers. Rather than personality traits, the situational approach studied human behavior. Building on these approaches, the contingency theory defined three styles of leadership: the authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles, that each were suited to certain situations. Later on, Fred Fiedler distinguished...
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...Sheel Patel Composition II Professor Stashenko July 2, 2016 Does Affirmative Action Benefit or Penalize You? “You must fail in order to succeed.” This is something that is repeatedly said to students as they prepare to begin their college careers. We encourage failure to remind everyone that no one is perfect and not everything in life will work out exactly the way it is planned. Unfortunately, this may not be having the effect on students that it’s supposed to. In fact, what if the idea of failing is setting up students to just be mediocre rather than be as appealing to a future employer as possible? It is now overwhelmingly common for a student to graduate with their Bachelor’s degree, only to not be able to find a job in their field of study. Affirmative Action is a well known policy in the world, especially as these high school students begin their college application and admissions process. It assures them that regardless of religion, gender, or race, they are all being held at the same standard. But if we tell these students that even when they fail, they can succeed, we’re setting them up for subpar work, only for them to be handed a job over someone who truly deserves it. Affirmative Action policies have a negative impact in the academic world and workplace because while everyone does in fact deserve equal rights, the policy creates an environment that caters to discrimination when it is supposed to eliminate it. During the 1960’s The Civil Rights Movement created...
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