Do you think achievement is caused by practice or genes? Throughout the three narratives, authors discuss how each person became successful and whether it is caused by genes or practice. In Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, psychologist K. Anders Ericsson leads a study of violinists that were split into stars, merely “good” and, unsuccessful categories. At the end of the study Ericsson learned the star violinist had roughly a total of ten thousand hours of practice increasing each week as they aged, merely “good” violinist played a total of eight thousand hours, and unsuccessful violinist played a total of four thousand hours. Similar to Outliers: The Story of Success, Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and
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Results from the study say that all professionals have achieved an incredible amount of practice over the years, which is one way the experiment confirmed that dedication and practice are the key to success. Another way the study is confirmed is by this claim from Ericsson “...he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top practicing a fraction of the time their peers did” (Gladwell 5). Ericsson yet again proves that there is no way to perfect a skill and be at a professional level without practicing and dedication to the activity. Melvin, author of Chasing Space, states “...I never felt like I was blessed with that much natural ability. I always believed that I could be anything, anything if I wanted it badly enough. My parents and other role models in my community have shown me that hard work and dedication are all you really need to succeed. Without that deeply held belief, I don’t think I would have achieved even half of what I have attempted. Nothing is impossible to do. If you believe in yourself and put your whole heart into whatever you do, you’ll be a success” (Melvin …show more content…
He succeeded against these staggering odds that no one could imagine someone being able to accomplish all because, as mentioned before, his dedication to achieve and the hard work and practice he puts into his work is incredible. In contrast, the author of The Sports Gene disagrees with both Outliers: The Story of Success and Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances; the author believes that genes play a major role in achieving success in activities. Epstein states “...Longer Achilles tendon allows an athlete to get more power from what’s called the “stretch shortening cycle,” basically compression and subsequent decompression of the springlike tendon. The more power that is stored in the spring when it is compressed, the more you get when it is released” (Epstein 15). Knowing this information we now know that the Achilles tendon functions similar to a spring, so when the tendon is bigger the more compression and decompression it can create a higher jump. Epstein informs us “...then a scientist at the Neuromuscular Research Center at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, to examine
Results from the study say that all professionals have achieved an incredible amount of practice over the years, which is one way the experiment confirmed that dedication and practice are the key to success. Another way the study is confirmed is by this claim from Ericsson “...he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top practicing a fraction of the time their peers did” (Gladwell 5). Ericsson yet again proves that there is no way to perfect a skill and be at a professional level without practicing and dedication to the activity. Melvin, author of Chasing Space, states “...I never felt like I was blessed with that much natural ability. I always believed that I could be anything, anything if I wanted it badly enough. My parents and other role models in my community have shown me that hard work and dedication are all you really need to succeed. Without that deeply held belief, I don’t think I would have achieved even half of what I have attempted. Nothing is impossible to do. If you believe in yourself and put your whole heart into whatever you do, you’ll be a success” (Melvin …show more content…
He succeeded against these staggering odds that no one could imagine someone being able to accomplish all because, as mentioned before, his dedication to achieve and the hard work and practice he puts into his work is incredible. In contrast, the author of The Sports Gene disagrees with both Outliers: The Story of Success and Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances; the author believes that genes play a major role in achieving success in activities. Epstein states “...Longer Achilles tendon allows an athlete to get more power from what’s called the “stretch shortening cycle,” basically compression and subsequent decompression of the springlike tendon. The more power that is stored in the spring when it is compressed, the more you get when it is released” (Epstein 15). Knowing this information we now know that the Achilles tendon functions similar to a spring, so when the tendon is bigger the more compression and decompression it can create a higher jump. Epstein informs us “...then a scientist at the Neuromuscular Research Center at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, to examine