In 1964 the Granada TV produced "Seven Up!" a documentary about a dozen different seven year olds from different back grounds. Some where rich, some poor, some middle class.
Every seven years since then, the film makers have followed up with the kids producing another documentary on their lives-- "7 plus Seven", "21", "28 Up", "35 Up", "42 Up" and "49 Up"
I'm only at "28 Up" but the documentary is becoming fascinating. "Seven Up!" and "7 plus Seven" are the weakest of the lot. The seven year olds, despite their different backgrounds are typical seven year olds, going to school, mostly doing what their parents tell them to do, sometimes getting into trouble. By "21" the kids have their own personalities and their own lives; some married, some broken hearted, some happily single.
I highly recommend this series. Not because the individual installments are strong, but because you get see a dozen lives compressed into a few hours.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Talent Hypothesis.
I've been going through "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell and "Talent is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin. At their center, both books argue that talent is made not born. That genius helps, but is not enough.
It's good to know that the to be great at something, you don't need to be born gifted. You need to work hard it, to deliberately practice, to have great coaching and the support of your friends and family.
But, the books go even further. They say that when you see someone who is talented, you are not looking at someone who someone who was born with a gift, but someone who had the opportunity to practice for thousands of hours.
Bill Gates, Mozart, Bill Joy, Oppenheimer, The Beatles, anyone you'd consider to be a genius. In the beginning they were the same as you or I. Then they chose to spend most of their time practising what they would become great at. They had the opportunity and support to do so.
One study followed world class musicians and the number of hours they practised. The study found that the best musicians were the ones that practised the most-- duh. But, and here is the important part, there were no naturals or people who practised for 9,000 hours that were better than the people who practised for 10,000 hours. And there were no grinds or people who practised for 10,000 hours but were only as good as those who practised for 9,000.
Another study found that the ability to do math correlated with someones desire to not give up and not with any natural math talent. If you give children a hard math problem, those who give up after a minute are the ones who will be weak in math. The children who spend 15 or 20 minutes on the problem, even if they get the answer wrong, are the children who will be strong at math.
Part of this idea is liberating-- I can be world class at anything as long as I choose to work long and hard at it.
Part of this idea is scary. That my natural gifts are less than I'd think and more the result of the opportunties my family and school gave me than anything innate to me.
It's good to know that the to be great at something, you don't need to be born gifted. You need to work hard it, to deliberately practice, to have great coaching and the support of your friends and family.
But, the books go even further. They say that when you see someone who is talented, you are not looking at someone who someone who was born with a gift, but someone who had the opportunity to practice for thousands of hours.
Bill Gates, Mozart, Bill Joy, Oppenheimer, The Beatles, anyone you'd consider to be a genius. In the beginning they were the same as you or I. Then they chose to spend most of their time practising what they would become great at. They had the opportunity and support to do so.
One study followed world class musicians and the number of hours they practised. The study found that the best musicians were the ones that practised the most-- duh. But, and here is the important part, there were no naturals or people who practised for 9,000 hours that were better than the people who practised for 10,000 hours. And there were no grinds or people who practised for 10,000 hours but were only as good as those who practised for 9,000.
Another study found that the ability to do math correlated with someones desire to not give up and not with any natural math talent. If you give children a hard math problem, those who give up after a minute are the ones who will be weak in math. The children who spend 15 or 20 minutes on the problem, even if they get the answer wrong, are the children who will be strong at math.
Part of this idea is liberating-- I can be world class at anything as long as I choose to work long and hard at it.
Part of this idea is scary. That my natural gifts are less than I'd think and more the result of the opportunties my family and school gave me than anything innate to me.
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