TOW #8: IRB (Outliers)

Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers continues to compare and contrast pieces of evidence throughout the rest of the book. As a reminder, Gladwell is a writer for the New Yorker and is trying to prove shed light on the specific factors that allow people like Bill Gates to be extraordinarily successful or Avianca flight 052 to go terrible wrong. Moving through the book, he increasingly makes use of anecdotes. For example, a chapter of is dedicated to a specific plane crash; because he is not a pilot, he interviewed Suren Ratwatte, an experienced pilot who explains what the atmosphere of the cockpit is like. Telling an anecdote about one of his own flights, Ratwatte describes, "At one point I was talking to three different people--talking to Dubai, talking to MedLink [...] and I was talking to the two doctors who were attending to the lady in the back. It was nonstop for forty minutes" (190-191). Although it is not his own story, Gladwell still makes use of it by analyzing it in a way that proves his point. He explains that Rutwatte felt comfortable communicating freely because Americans do not follow strict hierarchy rules, whereas countries like Hong Kong and Singapore do. This creates problems when pilots cannot clearly communicate with their subordinates, making their assistants useless and greatly increasing the likelihood of a crash. Gladwell's use of anecdotes is in a way another method of comparison: he presents a case that is both similar and different than the one being studied for the chapter, and explains why they did not end the same way. The personal aspect makes his point more relatable and easier to grasp. After finishing Outliers, I definitely believe that Gladwell achieved his purpose. His books are intended for intelligent adults, so if I understood and agreed with the point, I'm sure most of his audience does as well.