Narrow experience, on the other hand, threatens to calcify thinking. Such judgment is best nurtured in the pursuit of multifaceted interests.
But most occupations are “wicked,” requiring agile judgment to adapt to complex or novel circumstances and the unpredictability of other people. In a “kind” pursuit, says Hogarth, “a learner improves simply by engaging in the activity and trying to do better.” Golf and chess are like that. There’s reason to believe their wide-ranging extracurricular excursions might be essential to their signature achievements.Įpstein reflects on the work of psychologist Robin Hogarth, an expert on judgment and decision-making, who divides human endeavors into “kind” and “wicked” learning environments. That’s not just because those people happen to be possessed of such genius that they can moonlight and maintain their professional superiority. The idea, for which Epstein marshals much anecdotal evidence and data, is that people who achieve greatness in one domain often allow themselves promiscuous exploration beyond their area of expertise. To be clear, auditioning for your local amateur theater company will not transform you into, say, a chemist of international renown. “And those who have won the Nobel Prize are more likely still.” “Scientists inducted into the highest national academies are much more likely to have avocations outside of their vocation,” Epstein writes. It will, statistically speaking, increase your chances of winning a Nobel Prize. Reverse course at the dead ends in life’s maze without regret, accepting those detours as a necessary cost of progress. Continue what suits you, cast off what doesn’t. Whatever you do, according to motivational poster spokesperson Winston Churchill, “never give in, never, never, never.”Īuthor David Epstein complicates this thinking by also quoting the part of Churchill’s 1941 speech where England’s wartime prime minister said, “except to convictions of honor and good sense."Įpstein’s new book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, highlights the good sense of giving in once in a while. The “10,000 hours” idea that Gladwell popularized in his 2008 book, Outliers.
Decide young on the guitar or neuroscience or soccer and stride on - around obstacles, through doubts, past tedium - compiling miles on a pedometer of dedication that will, in time, reward you with mastery. Intuition and Malcolm Gladwell tell us that, while the journey to achievement might be long, it should be straight and narrow. Walking away from an activity, in fact, might be an essential step on any path to success.
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