Brain Pickings: The question of what it takes to excel — to reach genius-level acumen at a chosen endeavor — has occupied psychologists for decades and philosophers for centuries. Groundbreaking research has pointed to “grit” as a better predictor of success than IQ, while psychologists have admonished against the dangers of slipping into autopilot in the quest for skill improvement. In recent years, one of the most persistent pop-psychology claims has been the myth of the “10,000-hour rule” — the idea that this is the amount of time one must invest in practice in order to reach meaningful success in any field.
4 comments:
This article really resonated with me because it reminded me that quality can have so much more value than quantity. For example at school, I'm not going to improve in my art by just staring at a script and repeating it the same way over and over, I am going to get better by trying new things. This reminds me of Einstein's quote on insanity: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Yes quantity is important, but the caliber of work we do here during our training is really what is going to make us 'experts' in our art.
This article was really interesting to me. I've heard of the 10,000 hour rule, and I've always had the reaction that it can't really be that simple. This article brings up the exact issues with simplifying practice to mere hours worked- there are other, even more important, factors, especially whether you have an expert teacher and how concentrated your practice is. I'd be interested in learning more about the "top-down/bottom-up" theory. The idea of conscious practicing versus coasting on previously learned skills makes total sense, and could explain a lot about why some people become experts while others stay merely "good enough." I wonder how these concepts could be applied to creativity and design- is there a way to consciously practice design, as opposed to coasting on what we have already?
I agree with this article completely. Mindlessly plugging away at something is always going to be significantly less effective than if you give something all your concentration and efforts, especially when you look at things through the lens of trying to improve. I found the section on "bottom-up" training to be particularly interesting. I have definitely been in situations where I felt myself going through the motions of an activity, without continuing to improve myself or my skill set.
Perhaps my take away from this article should be to always work with an eye towards quality and improvement, rather than just completing a task.
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