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For those interested in an alternative view, check out Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein > Plenty of experts argue that an

by awb 3y ago

For those interested in an alternative view, check out Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein > Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule. https://davidepstein.com/the-range/ https://davidepstein.com/the-range/

weakfish 3y ago
It could just be me self-soothing, but as a verified ADHDer who switches hobbies like I switch clothes, this book helped me feel less… bad? I guess? About my lack of specialization. But it’s fun that I have enough knowledge on lots of subjects to speak competently on them. The ones that surprise folks the most are usually photography and audio engineering/production, which I dabbled in for a long time.
mahathu 3y ago
>But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule. As another commenter has pointed out, this is a more comforting and maybe also more realistic stance when it comes to professional/scientific achievement. Unfortunately, however, early specialisation is definitely the rule nowadays in professional football ("soccer"). I'm assuming it's the same for Basketball/Football/Baseball/... in the US and elsewhere. Pretty much every player who's playing in the top leagues now grew up in an academy, where their education and social lives revolved around their football practice routine, not the other way around. That is not only the top leagues like Premier League or La Liga, but also the leagues that come below it. Players like Brinkmann, Scholl, Bernd Schneider, ... are celebrated as the exception to the rule. I used to "play" in the fifth league in Germany (Oberliga BaWü) for 2 seasons (barely got any time on the pitch) and even there, almost every player was in some sort of specialised training since they were 5 or 6, either in the youth programmes of local clubs or private academies their parents paid a lot of money for. Everyone is dreaming of playing in the Bundesliga and the academy owners know that. Players coming from a different sport later in their childhood were the exception.
- JustBreath 3y ago
  Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of people aren't in professional sports and so that's not the case for them.
- zeteo 3y ago
  > Pretty much every player who's playing in the top leagues now grew up in an academy, where their education and social lives revolved around their football practice routine The argument would only apply to star soccer players. Sure, lots of parents are talked into signing their kids up for pricey training when they're as young as 6. But if you check out big names like Messi, Iniesta, and Cristiano Ronaldo, they didn't hit the academy scene until they were almost teens, right before getting picked for major under-15 club teams. It looks more like you've got to go to an academy to get noticed, not that spending more time in one boosts your chances of making it big.
  - heyheyhey 3y ago
    > The argument would only apply to star soccer players. What do you mean by star players? If you're talking Big Five + MLS players, then you pretty much either need to be an academy or high level club (ECNL in USA for example) at a young age to have a chance. Iniesta was part of La Masia, the youth academy for FC Barcelona. Messi/CR7 both played for the youth clubs of professional teams.
- __mharrison__ 3y ago
  I don't know much about soccer/football. From the anecdata of professional athletes I'm aware of (NBA/NFL) there isn't really an "academy". And these folks weren't specialized at 5-6 years of age. They were extremely athletic and invested a lot of time in the teenage years when they showed promise.
  - mahathu 3y ago
    That sounds like a much healthier/less exploitative scene to be honest!
  - 3y ago
paulpauper 3y ago
early specialization Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World but specialization later in life is still specialization? This sounds like goalpost moving.
- awb 3y ago
  He’s responding to the theory that some parents/teachers believe that if you can’t do X by age Y you’ll never be a top performer. He’s saying you can still train but you don’t need to hit 10k hours in a specific skill to excel, especially in complex fields like team sports or creative thinking.
- randoglando 3y ago
  The book is also filled with anecdata instead of hard data.

by awb 3y ago

weakfish 3y ago

It could just be me self-soothing, but as a verified ADHDer who switches hobbies like I switch clothes, this book helped me feel less… bad? I guess? About my lack of specialization. But it’s fun that I have enough knowledge on lots of subjects to speak competently on them. The ones that surprise folks the most are usually photography and audio engineering/production, which I dabbled in for a long time.

mahathu 3y ago

>But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule. As another commenter has pointed out, this is a more comforting and maybe also more realistic stance when it comes to professional/scientific achievement. Unfortunately, however, early specialisation is definitely the rule nowadays in professional football ("soccer"). I'm assuming it's the same for Basketball/Football/Baseball/... in the US and elsewhere. Pretty much every player who's playing in the top leagues now grew up in an academy, where their education and social lives revolved around their football practice routine, not the other way around. That is not only the top leagues like Premier League or La Liga, but also the leagues that come below it. Players like Brinkmann, Scholl, Bernd Schneider, ... are celebrated as the exception to the rule. I used to "play" in the fifth league in Germany (Oberliga BaWü) for 2 seasons (barely got any time on the pitch) and even there, almost every player was in some sort of specialised training since they were 5 or 6, either in the youth programmes of local clubs or private academies their parents paid a lot of money for. Everyone is dreaming of playing in the Bundesliga and the academy owners know that. Players coming from a different sport later in their childhood were the exception.

JustBreath 3y ago
Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of people aren't in professional sports and so that's not the case for them.
zeteo 3y ago
> Pretty much every player who's playing in the top leagues now grew up in an academy, where their education and social lives revolved around their football practice routine The argument would only apply to star soccer players. Sure, lots of parents are talked into signing their kids up for pricey training when they're as young as 6. But if you check out big names like Messi, Iniesta, and Cristiano Ronaldo, they didn't hit the academy scene until they were almost teens, right before getting picked for major under-15 club teams. It looks more like you've got to go to an academy to get noticed, not that spending more time in one boosts your chances of making it big.
- heyheyhey 3y ago
  > The argument would only apply to star soccer players. What do you mean by star players? If you're talking Big Five + MLS players, then you pretty much either need to be an academy or high level club (ECNL in USA for example) at a young age to have a chance. Iniesta was part of La Masia, the youth academy for FC Barcelona. Messi/CR7 both played for the youth clubs of professional teams.
__mharrison__ 3y ago
I don't know much about soccer/football. From the anecdata of professional athletes I'm aware of (NBA/NFL) there isn't really an "academy". And these folks weren't specialized at 5-6 years of age. They were extremely athletic and invested a lot of time in the teenage years when they showed promise.
- mahathu 3y ago
  That sounds like a much healthier/less exploitative scene to be honest!
- 3y ago

paulpauper 3y ago

early specialization Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World but specialization later in life is still specialization? This sounds like goalpost moving.

awb 3y ago
He’s responding to the theory that some parents/teachers believe that if you can’t do X by age Y you’ll never be a top performer. He’s saying you can still train but you don’t need to hit 10k hours in a specific skill to excel, especially in complex fields like team sports or creative thinking.
randoglando 3y ago
The book is also filled with anecdata instead of hard data.