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One of the debates I'm surprised to have with my friends is: some of them will parrot Gladwell-style advice (truisms that claim to come from science). I will sa

by delish 7y ago

One of the debates I'm surprised to have with my friends is: some of them will parrot Gladwell-style advice (truisms that claim to come from science). I will say, "That didn't replicate." They'll say, "Well it's a good idea anyway." And then I'll say some long thing about how when you're giving someone advice, you should hold yourself to a higher standard, not a lower one. Especially if you're an institution.

inimino 7y ago
If you're competing in an area where other competitors spend 10k hours before they compete, you better practice. We didn't really need a study to tell us that, but people feel it adds something to say that science has "proved it". That's why if you point out the study was BS, it doesn't matter, because it was just a supporting detail for the point they wanted to make anyway. Practice.
- delish 7y ago
  Not quite to disagree with your main point: > because it was just a supporting detail for the point they wanted to make anyway. The people who make arguments whose evidence is just a supporting detail for the point they wanted to make anyway are common--some are some of my friends, family and coworkers, but I take what they say a lot less seriously than I do people who have high standards for evidence. >We didn't really need a study to tell us that Perhaps not, but we can ask for studies on what kind of practice, how much and how old you are when you practice et cetera. Yes you "have to practice." But you can be interested in how to practice well, and one way to know that is good studies (i.e. not dubious ones).
  - inimino 7y ago
    Most of the best advice is simply telling people what is already obvious to everyone but them. There's not a lot of evidence needed, and adding more won't help if the person isn't ready to hear it. In "reasons why people misallocate practice time", akrasia ranks above the lack of research studies by about a mile.
- knolax 7y ago
  If you're competing in area where other competitors spend 10k hours practicing then maybe you should make sure that those 10k hours are actually giving them an advantage. If not you now have a 10k hour time advantage over them.
- insickness 7y ago
  It's fine if you are simply looking for inspiration, but non-scientific claims (i.e. unfalsifiable claims) can mask other important differentiators of success. Perhaps practice alone won't deliver success in whatever field you choose; there may be a genetic component that might indicate you should choose a different area of focus. Perhaps the type of practice is more important than the amount of hours you put in and the focus on the hours is counter-productive.

by delish 7y ago

inimino 7y ago

If you're competing in an area where other competitors spend 10k hours before they compete, you better practice. We didn't really need a study to tell us that, but people feel it adds something to say that science has "proved it". That's why if you point out the study was BS, it doesn't matter, because it was just a supporting detail for the point they wanted to make anyway. Practice.

delish 7y ago
Not quite to disagree with your main point: > because it was just a supporting detail for the point they wanted to make anyway. The people who make arguments whose evidence is just a supporting detail for the point they wanted to make anyway are common--some are some of my friends, family and coworkers, but I take what they say a lot less seriously than I do people who have high standards for evidence. >We didn't really need a study to tell us that Perhaps not, but we can ask for studies on what kind of practice, how much and how old you are when you practice et cetera. Yes you "have to practice." But you can be interested in how to practice well, and one way to know that is good studies (i.e. not dubious ones).
- inimino 7y ago
  Most of the best advice is simply telling people what is already obvious to everyone but them. There's not a lot of evidence needed, and adding more won't help if the person isn't ready to hear it. In "reasons why people misallocate practice time", akrasia ranks above the lack of research studies by about a mile.
knolax 7y ago
If you're competing in area where other competitors spend 10k hours practicing then maybe you should make sure that those 10k hours are actually giving them an advantage. If not you now have a 10k hour time advantage over them.
insickness 7y ago
It's fine if you are simply looking for inspiration, but non-scientific claims (i.e. unfalsifiable claims) can mask other important differentiators of success. Perhaps practice alone won't deliver success in whatever field you choose; there may be a genetic component that might indicate you should choose a different area of focus. Perhaps the type of practice is more important than the amount of hours you put in and the focus on the hours is counter-productive.