The Trouble With Geniuses: IQ's

               While reading chapter three and chapter four of Outliers I began to get stuck on the idea about how once you pass a certain point of intelligence it doesn’t matter. I was thinking does that go the same way for being unintelligent. Is there point where it does not matter how dumb you are too? If someone only needs to be smart enough but not the smartest, then what leads other to success? I think that question shows a lot about how opportunity has to do with success. I did think that hard work was what made you successful, but after reading Outliers I can see how opportunities shape success.  

               Gladwell began to talk about how it would be assumed that anyone with a really high IQ has the greatest potential, but that goes along with the idea that opportunities lead to success and that achievements are less about opportunity than talent. With the idea that IQ has a threshold, Malcolm Gladwell was trying to show how once someone reaches a certain level of intelligence, their success is not impacted. Then other things begin to matter. The IQ’s are different numbers, but once the reach the threshold it does not matter. The opportunities make the difference. I still think hard work has a lot to do with it, but then I was thinking that to reach some opportunities you need put in hard work.     

               I think that the same goes for being unsuccessful because you still could be working hard, but if you don’t take the opportunity then you will not lead to success. Then how does luck play into success. Some opportunities may come from hard work, but most likely they will be a lucky chance. 
               By chapter four Gladwell talked about how the one thing that affected the IQ’s were family background. In my life I think that is true for me because of the kind of household I grew up in, my family would make sure I got my homework done and got good grades. When I got older I hit a point where I would do that on my own, but I learned from my parents. I also think that for someone who doesn’t have a great background they might not have the highest IQ, or it could be the opposite and they would try to learn from their parents mistakes. Malcolm also talks about the community and environment and how it can affect intelligence, and I think that it is by a chance that you will grow up somewhere, but it is what you do with the opportunities. I’m still not sure if I feel that success comes from hard work or opportunities, I think that it is a combination or both that is needed.