One of the major point in Outliers is actually that you are not in control of your own luck, but rather that geniuses are born from a series of random events (of which you have no influence) falling out their way.

Taking Bill Gates as an example, the author argues that had he not had the great fortune of having early access to computers at just the right time he might never had become what he is today. This access was provided through a series of fortunate events, basically allowing Bill Gates unlimited access to expensive computer time back in the 70's (I might be off a bit, I'm trying to recall the details from memory), all of which are described in the book.

I've recently read the book, and I found it very interesting. It is well written and the author stays focused throughout the book.

The author argues convincingly for his views and presents multiple examples to back up his ideas. Personally I was intrigued by his idea that people are not born geniuses but are made genius through a series of random events falling out their way. The author doesn't argue that there is no such thing as inherited intelligence nor that everyones faith is determined purely by chance - rather he argues that the outcome is a fine balance between the two effects. To become successful you need high intelligence (on multiple levels) and the right opportunities (which constitute the element of chance).

From a philosophical (or religious) stand point you may not agree with his views, but the book is still a very good read and I highly recommend it.

That's why you include the present value of the discounted future rewards in your picture. As I said, it's something that has been studied for a long time, my only point is that you cannot simplify it into a single sentence based on gut feeling - however, I realize I made the same mistake by generalizing the remark about bottom line.

You do realize you are ignoring the entire field of Economics in your assessment, and relying on you gut feeling?

There's a reason we have spent hundreds of years studying these things, and it turns out there is actually nothing more important than the bottom line from the companies perspective.

It worked for Apple

Talk about not getting the joke...

That's not nearly enough... in Denmark there's a 180% tax on (all) new vehicles. It's time to look at our neighbors overseas for ideas!

According to IMDB the movie was released as early as December 11 in Germany. I've noticed this trend recently, where "007: Quantum Of Solace" also was released earlier in Europe.

Maybe Americans need time to adjust to not getting everything first?

The point is to do something valuable - be it work or hobby - work is optimal in the sense you have something to show for it. Saving babies from Malaria in Africa is even better. If you can't show any activities, then you are portraying that you spent the last 5 months sitting on the couch watching TV all day long. Companies will look to see if you are self-motivated, and the "sitting in the couch" phenomena is guaranteed to get you disqualified.