Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion 'Outliers', anyone reading it??

Yeah, my mom really resented me, amusingly enough. She felt like I didn't suffer enough because my husband was so supportive.

I just responded with an evil grin that "Well, I married better."

Obviously that didn't go over well! LOL!

Lina, if you've never had to do hard physical labor, you don't know the incentive there is to achieve academically. There is a reward in physical labor, but there is more prestige and usually more money in mental labor. Please keep an open mind to opposing opinions.

I think she was saying that it seemed racist. At least that's how it sounded to me. Frankly, I'd stay away from that, too!

(Or maybe too reductionist. But mostly I heard racism.)

Interesting, I never took it that way. I would have thought it racist to say all Asian kids achieve higher just because they're Asian. I looked at is as a cultural thing, where intellectual achievement is valued more than working in a rice paddy; therefore the parents push their children to achieve academically.

Well, I didn't read the book, and it didn't sound like she had either. (I could be wrong.) I just took from what she said about it that this was her impression.

I suspect it's one of those things that when taken out of context just sounds wrong.

And please remember that I may be way off here! It's always dangerous to try to speak for someone else, even in good faith! So please take me with a grain of salt!

I didn't read it yet, either. There's a line at the library for it! I didn't want to sound to hard on Lina, but I didn't want her to dismiss what has gotten good reviews based on one item that she heard and didn't like. I also have to remember she's only 12!

LOL! True enough.

Him assuming "Asians" are good at math was already stereotypical, but I thought that back then a large number of members of quite a few cultures did hard farm work. How come he singles out Asians?

I can't speak for other "Asians", but as far as I know my grandparents or parents have never farmed a rice paddy, and were entirely self-motivated.

This just stood out to me because a lot of people were picking on it, and I thought it was just ridiculous, but I don't know if the rest of the book was good or bad. My first impression of the book wasn't too great, though.

Well Said, Lina (for a person of Any Age)

This isn't from Outliers, in fact I can't remember where it's from, but I read once that someone is forwarding the idea that males are better at Math than females because in pre-history Males were under genetic pressure to be smart enough to figure out which babies are their's and bring food to the right ones. Counting and keeping track of cycles and lengths of pregnancy were supposed to be a big help for the Males in passing on their genes and not so important for Females.

Well, it did make me giggle to think of it! Seems to me that the best way to be sure your offspring prospered under those conditions was to make sure that the whole small community prospered.

((shrugs))
Someone invent a time machine quickly so I can satisfy my curiosity!

Thanks!
Grinity

Interesting how two different takes come out of the same statement, isn't it? It's all about perspective, I think.

As someone whose father grew up on a farm but who was not herself raised there, I rather see both sides here. I do think there's a particular work ethic borne of necessity that is associated with farm life. But I completely agree that singling out Asians as having more of it than anyone else and assuming that an entire culture springs from that way of life--as if there are no other avenues for life in "those" places--is narrow-minded and offensive.

Okay, now I guess I really have to read the book to see how the argument is actually posed. So much can get lost in translation, you know?

BTW, Lina, as a former teacher of argumentative writing, I can tell you that reading things that are offensive is not always a bad idea. It's good to know what your opposition is saying so you can knock them back step by step. You have a real flair for writing and a very logical mind from what I've seen here, so I hope you'll read things that infuriate you sometimes. The challenge to your beliefs will either strengthen you or will lead you to question--and thereby create better beliefs.