Gladwell gives examples of guys (why no women?) who became big successes in their field (like Bill Gates, the poster boy for this sort of thing), to illustrate the "10,000 hour rule" which neurologist Daniel Levitin explains thusly: "ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert -- in anything...no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery." Ten thousand hours comes out to about ten years.
Gladwell points out that this doesn't occur without a support network. You need supportive parents who will recognize and encourage your talent while you are still young, you need enough money that you don't have to waste time working while honing your talent, and you need to fall into a situation (a special program or opportunity) that will give you the means to develop your talent.
According to Gladwell does this hold true for any "talent"? I would assume some things are more easily mastered than others?
ReplyDeleteWhy no women examples? Hmmm...maybe they are the support network for a lot of these stories.
ReplyDeleteLevitin's comment, quoted in my post, that "no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time" indicates that as far as the scientists who have studied this phenomenon are concerned, world-class mastery of any activity would require 10,000 hours of practice. I also question that -- I can't see a master knitter and a master pianist as both needing the same amount of time to be the top of their chosen field....
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why Gladwell hasn't included any female examples (at least not so far). Hopefully it is UNconscious discrimination!
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