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A review by simmoril
The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else by Daniel Coyle
5.0
One of the most often-quoted facts regarding talent, which I first heard in Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers", is that becoming an expert in a given field takes on average about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. However, that term 'deliberate practice' can seem somewhat vague: what exactly is supposed to happen during those 10,000 hours? Coyle's book is the definitive answer to that question.
In his book, Coyle explores this notion of deliberate practice from all angles. To begin, he starts out with what, in my opinion, is the single most important aspect of this book: a medical explanation for what is happening in your brain when you learn. Building upon this foundation, Coyle then walks through the different parts of deep learning, along the way introducing a varied cast of writers, skateboarders, painters, musicians, teachers and football players that help emphasize the important aspects of the process. Through their stories, Coyle also helps drive home the point that these people were not born great, they worked at it. And in the end, there really is no silver bullet: talent takes a great deal of time and effort. But by spending that time putting in the right kind of effort, you can achieve some pretty amazing things.
As my book list might reflect, I have a very strong interest in the study of talent, geniuses, and what I like to call meta-learning (learning how to learn), and this book is definitely one of the best books I've read on the subject. Honestly, I wish I could give it six stars, but since I can't I'll settle for encouraging you to put this book at the top of your reading list.
In his book, Coyle explores this notion of deliberate practice from all angles. To begin, he starts out with what, in my opinion, is the single most important aspect of this book: a medical explanation for what is happening in your brain when you learn. Building upon this foundation, Coyle then walks through the different parts of deep learning, along the way introducing a varied cast of writers, skateboarders, painters, musicians, teachers and football players that help emphasize the important aspects of the process. Through their stories, Coyle also helps drive home the point that these people were not born great, they worked at it. And in the end, there really is no silver bullet: talent takes a great deal of time and effort. But by spending that time putting in the right kind of effort, you can achieve some pretty amazing things.
As my book list might reflect, I have a very strong interest in the study of talent, geniuses, and what I like to call meta-learning (learning how to learn), and this book is definitely one of the best books I've read on the subject. Honestly, I wish I could give it six stars, but since I can't I'll settle for encouraging you to put this book at the top of your reading list.