Practical Intelligence in Outliers

What is Practical Intelligence?

The following sample essay on: “What is Practical Intelligence?”. In Outliers , the writer explains the meaning of practical intelligence such as the ability to cope with everyday tasks that require immediate solutions .

According to the psychologic Robert Sternberg (as cited in Gladwell, 2008) this type of intelligence includes things like “knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.”

This ability can be clearly seen in the comparison between perhaps two geniuses, Christopher Langan and Robert Oppenheirmer, both brilliant characters who went through difficult situations that had endangered their entire higher education.

In order to maintain their studies, they were required to explain their cases to an authority. Chris has lost his financial aid due to his mothers negligence, while Robert has tried to poisoned his tutor. Both had to face an authority , explain themselves to find a way out. However, the outcomes were different for both individuals where Chris loses his scholarship, and Robert is sent to a psychiatric .

The reason why this happened is based on practical intelligence, which also includes the ability to communicate well. Oppenheirmer had that skill that we can call social savvy that allows him to get what he wanted from the world whereas ,on the other hand, the lack of it , led Chris to lose his opportunity to pursuit his dreams. (Gladwell, 2008).

Practical intelligence is extremely helpful not only as a student but throughout life, as we might notice in the cases of Chris and Oppenheirmer , this type of intelligence will help us achieve our goals.

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In the student life at Seneca College, there may be some challenges that can be easily manage is we have practical intelligence. This new concept for me has a strong impact on me because I have been able to notice that practical intelligence can mean the difference between success or failure in various areas during lifetime. From now on I will think about the past actions I have committed and use that knowledge to improve and evaluate for my future decisions. In addition, in his argument the author states how different classes of parents reacted to authority. I agree with his stand about how wealth and parenting are interconnected and give people an extra advantage. He points out that people from lower social classes seem to be more defensive and even afraid when surrounded by authority representatives. Besides, they often tend to align themselves to certain parameters. Upper class people, on the other hand, feel that they have the right to challenge authority. It seems that children from parents who were more involved and active in their children’s lives and allowed them to talk and taught them how to stand up for themselves seem to go further farther in the corporate world because they would not let people to walk all over them. People whose parents are not well off tend not spend as much time actively training their children with the necessities they will need to succeed in the world. As in the example of Chris Langan, because perhaps he came from the background that he came; he just allowed his college administrators to take away his scholarship and to eventually make him drop out of school because they would not give him the help he needed. he was passive instead of active and take supersite the challenge. This specific topic makes me think that in the journey to success in life there are many factors that intervene to a greater or lesser degree, and one of them can be the absence of skills that have been practically inculcated from childhood and our parents have had the opportunity to help us to develop. Perhaps we were not so fortune to be born in a cradle where we were taught to speak for ourselves, but there is also a possibility to change and start to express without fear.

References: Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York, New York , USA: Little Brown & Company .