Outliers, Introduction – The Roseto Mystery

  1. In your own words, explain what an outlier is.

Someone who stands out from the average grouping. Different people.

  1. What was significant about the town of Roseto, PA?

There was very little heart disease, no peptic ulcers, no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug use, very little crime, and nobody on welfare. People died of old age. This makes Roseto, PA stand out from the rest of the US.

  1. How did Stewart Wolf try to explain this phenomenon?

Stewart Wolf tried to explain this phenomenon through diet and genetics, but what he found was that the diet was not a part of this long life. The Rosetans diet was unhealthy (41 percent of their diet was fat), they smoked heavily, and they also struggled with obesity (they cooked with Lard!).

He then later tried to explain the phenomenon through genetics but he found that Rosetan relatives were no healthier than the rest of society.

  1. What was the “Secret”of Roseto?

The secret of Roseto was the community. There was a powerful, protective social structure that insulated them from the pressures of the modern world. They chatted with one another, went to church, had 22 civic organizations (ex: Elks Club, Rotary, Knights of Columbus, etc.) and had 3 generations living under the same roof. The successful people didn’t flaunt success; they helped others to become more successful. The Rosetans were healthy because of the way they lived and the way they interacted with the world around them.

QUESTION: Can you identify anything about River Edge that is positive about this community?

QUESTION: Why do you live here?

QUESTION: What were your teams’ sponsors?

  1. Malcolm Gladwell writes, “I want to do for our understanding of success what Stewart Wolf did for our understanding of health.” Explain.

Stewart Wolf made society look at health in a new way. Instead of focusing on only on diet, exercise, and genetics as contributors to good health, he discovered that the way we interact in our communities can contribute to our physical health. Likewise, Malcolm Gladwell wants to change our understanding of what makes a person successful. There is something more than meets the eye.