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from the he'll-never-make-it-to-Carnegie-Hall dept.
The Atlantic has an article on Dan McLaughlin, the "average guy" who spent six thousand hours working on becoming a professional golfer
Seven-plus years ago, aged 30 and unsure even of which hand to grip a golf club in, McLaughlin quit his job as a commercial photographer, took in lodgers to cover the mortgage, husbanded his savings for green fees, and set out to make the PGA Tour, home to the world's elite golfers.
He created a catchily named blog to document his quest, and in short order the Dan Plan commanded magazines spreads and TV spots. Along the way, it drew an avid community of followers riveted by the spectacle of a regular Joe living out an everyman fantasy. No less captivated: a salon of leading figures from the science of learning and human performance.
What could you achieve if you committed to something completely, all-in, no excuses? How far could you go? For five years, McLaughlin cast everything else aside—career, money, even relationships—to put this to the test. But then his back gave out. He pushed himself to the limit and still came up short.
The article follows Dan's attempt to follow the idea, popularised in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, that 10,000 hours of practice is the main factor in developing any skill to world class expertise.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 14 2017, @12:20PM (8 children)
What I'd like to know is how did Dan interpret the part where it says practicing for 10,000 hours does not include expert guidance? If you start off wrong, you have no way of knowing and you keep going down the wrong path.
Reminds me of a contractor who did work on my grandmother's house who I had an argument with. Tiles in the kitchen were crooked and it was plainly obvious. His defence was "I have been doing this for 20 years!" Yea, poorly. Just because you have x hours of "experience" doesn't make you an expert or skilled in anything. Garbage in, garbage out.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 14 2017, @04:55PM (2 children)
There's also talent. Everything requires a certain combination of skills and you can't just develop them to the appropriate level just because you would like to - as a music teacher, I've had students work their asses off for years and never really get good, whilst others come in and all they really need is advice and a little discipline.
Even with that, you need a crapload of luck in such endeavours. Ask any one of the many incredible musicians who never turned a cent from their work.
This "10,000 hours" is stupid and cruel. I've noticed most people who dish out the "Just do what you love and it will all work out" are usually from wealthy, or at least well connected backgrounds, and have what it takes to "fake it till you make it".
(Score: 4, Insightful) by andersjm on Monday August 14 2017, @07:00PM
I expect McLaughlin has actually become an expert. And that would have been great, if only he had studied carpentry or computer programming, because then he would have a marketable skill. But in a competitive sport you can't make a living from just being an expert: You have to be elite, which means being a nosehair better than most of the regular experts.
The "10,000 hours" thing would be a lot less harmful, if people only understood that "expert" doesn't mean "elite". To be an expert is to know a craft in and out, but it doesn't mean you'll be at the level of the world's foremost experts as you see them on TV. If the craft is useful, then being an expert at it is useful regardless. Golf isn't useful, it's a zero sum game, and even experts can lose at that.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 14 2017, @07:31PM
Should word that as natural talent. But I agree. Some people have a knack for some things and the skill comes naturally. I am good with technology, electronics and computers along with mechanical stuff (I'm even okay with math as long as someone explains it to me in a way I can understand). I can visualize how things work in my head by thinking of them as smaller systems connected and working together. That has been something with me since I was a child. As far back as I can remember my toys were not action figures and other children's toys but extension cords, wires, and later on electric/electronic junk my father would bring home for me to play with. For some reason I always like the idea of connecting things together. Took to the computer like flies on shit and remember the first program I wrote in Q-Basic, a program to calculate the distance in miles for x light years. People ask me how I learned it and that's the thing, I didn't learn it, not from my point of view. I look at it as my brain was already wired for this work and all I needed was guidance to understanding these things via school, books, and the internet. It just clicks and I understand it.
I took a music recording elective in university. You sat in front of a workstation running multi track midi recording software and a keyboard. There was this one middle aged guy in the class, sort of an odd ball who was very quiet and spazzy. He would go into a zone and hammer on that keyboard like it was part of him. One day he was really intense, some of us in the back chuckled because he was so spastic. The professor, a professional session musician, took notice and went over to see what he was up to. He asked the student if he could have a listen and he was stunned with what he heard. I don't remember his exact words but they were along the lines of: "Wow! You are really talented. Do you play or compose professionally?" The student replied: "No. I only started playing last year after music 101". Professor was floored. He told the student he had the gift of music and he could even play professionally. Me? I couldn't compose twinkle twinkle little star if you left me locked in a room for a hundred years with that damn keyboard.
Some people's brains are wired for specific talents. And it must have to do with being able to visualize these things in your head. One film that even illustrated it was the animated Ratatouille, when Remy is explaining how he sees the foods and flavors as colors, shapes and sounds. That really clicked with me as I think of things as a sort of block diagram puzzle in my head. But I think there is a price to pay. I'm no neuroscientist, but I have a feeling that in order to tip the scales in intelligence, something else has to give. So you have quirks or mental disorders as a consequence. I have depression and anxiety issues. The keyboard virtuoso was spastic and quiet leading me to believe he might have been mildly autistic or aspergers.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 14 2017, @06:47PM (1 child)
In the 21st century, we have more access to reliable information than ever. This idea that you need an expert right in front of you to teach you is false for many fields and obsolete.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 14 2017, @08:59PM
Expert doesn't have to be a physical body but for certain tasks you need hands-on training. I played a little golf with a friend who was into it. It's not easy. The hard part is the stance and swing motion. But the biggest help was my friend standing there watching me set up and giving me pointers. Many times he would say "Stop!". He would then physically move me into a better position. Bend your arms like that, hold the club like this, twist your body like that, plant your feet like so, your legs should move that way, etc. After some practice at a driving range with him I did get a little better. Honestly, without someone watching you and seeing what's wrong, it is really easy to hurt yourself.
And Troll mod is unfair. Proper mod would be Disagree.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 14 2017, @06:59PM (2 children)
There are some people who can play rugby and many others who can't. The former tend to be tougher and recover faster from injuries. If you're in the latter group and still tried to do the 10,000 hours thing you'd probably end up a cripple or worse.
It's like those people who run marathons etc. Some can do it, others can't. You're less suited for long distance running if you're heavier than a certain level (doesn't have to be fat, could be bodybuilder type) all that weight will increase the impact and damage on your joints. You probably have to be a minority of a minority to be a long-term super muscular marathon runner and have little problems.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 14 2017, @09:17PM (1 child)
That's part of proper training. Going about something yourself without any real knowledge can easily lead you down a screwy path of trial and error. And the error can get you into trouble.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 15 2017, @06:16AM
I'd like to see what's proper training for getting a midget to slamdunk. Think 10000 hours of that will work?
If you don't have the natural talent/aptitude you're not going to be world class. There's just so much adaptation a body can do. http://www.boredpanda.com/athlete-body-types-comparison-howard-schatz/ [boredpanda.com]
Polishing granite for 10000 hours isn't going to turn it into a diamond. But you can make a really nice table top.
Nowadays with our technology there may be more advanced and efficient methods of figuring out aptitude without as much $$$$ investment. For example for motorsport, some video games are realistic enough to figure out whether a kid might have the potential to be a fast F1 driver. The kid can say "Dad, I want to be a race car driver", and Dad can go, ok beat this lap time and we'll talk. Then if the kid beats the lap time significantly, dad goes "oh shit, my kid might be one of those diamonds, dammit, this is gonna be expensive". :).