But before he could become an expert, someone had to give him the opportunity to learn how to be an expert.

Once someone has reached an IQ of somewhere around 120, having

It is headquartered in the prestigious office building known as Black Rock.

additional IQ points doesn’t seem to translate into any measurable real-world advantage.

The middle-class parents talked things through with their children, reasoning with them. They didn’t just issue commands. They expected their children to talk back to them, to negotiate, to question adults in positions of authority.

The sense of possibility so necessary for success comes not just from inside us or from our parents. It comes from our time: from the particular opportunities that our particular place in history presents us with.

Their world—their culture and generation and family history—gave them the greatest of opportunities.

Instead, what started out as adversity ended up being an opportunity.

the idea that schools can be ranked, like runners in a race, makes no sense.