Hatfield - Coyle - Ch. 3-4

I think chapter 3 can easily be summarized in - people we think have natural talent have actually honed their skills through practice. Coyle goes through many examples that all really just get to that point.

Coyle in chapter 4 describes the 'holy shit effect' seeing people you thought were just like you do something incredible. It is also important to note that skills are often based on recognizable chunking, and when that is taken away, it can cause even masters to stumble. Imitation is also important in learning, as we are hard-wired to imitate. It is also important to slow down and practice everyday in the sweet spot of challenging yourself. Finally, he mentioned that you have to be able to feel it. 


Response:

I do again believe this could have been done in a much shorter and more accessible way, but I digress.

I continue to find frustrations in this book. Yes, deliberate practice is important, and this is very much a point sent home in every sentence of the book. However, many points the author makes are missing important ideas or just wrong.

Regarding 'genuis' - this is maybe more of an opinion, but I do not subscribe to the idea of a genius, especially in terms of composers, but this does apply elsewhere. Historically, 'geniuses' are basically all white men. There are systems in place that specifically ignore certain people who don't fit a mold that society deems worthy. Take Mozart's sister, Nannerl, who was said to have at least as much talent as Mozart, but was never given the chance to really work at it. This is just one example, but there is INCREDIBLE bias in the labelling of geniuses.

I'd also like to address the comment about Michael Jordan quitting the NBA because of his myelin... Michael Jordan quit the NBA because he felt he had reached the pinnacle of his career, not to mention the murder of his father three months before he left... It wasn't myelin. This kind of thing just really discredits the author, which makes it hard to believe a lot of what he has chosen to include here, not to mention that most of it is anecdotal. 

I did like the last paragraph of chapter 3, because I felt like the author was a little more realistic, acknowledging genetics and aptitude. I am glad that was finally included, because there are outside factors. 

I also thought that chunking was an interesting section, because it is also something that is very much a part of music, especially research on how we sight read music - it is all quite fascinating.

I also wanted to quickly mention imitation and how we are wired to imitate as humans - neurodivergent folks are especially good at this, as masking is unconscious. I wonder if that is something that affects how we pick of skills in some cases.

Finally, one last thing I had an issue with was the repetion section. Yes, practicing everyday is a useful thing to some extent. However, research actually shows that rest days are incredibly important, not to mention the importance of interleaved practice and recall in learning things (though that isn't always a thing with skills like singing). I didn't like the way he talked about it, especially discouraging days off, as they are actually incredibly important 

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