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"What happened to the 10,000 hour rule and all that saying that there are no real instant successes?" Mozart.

• duskwuff 13y ago
  I'm not sure he was a counterexample. He started playing musical instruments at the age of 3 or 4, and began composing some pieces when he was 5. While Mozart was undoubtedly a musical genius, he had an early start and lots of exposure to music.
  • rodgerd 13y ago
    There are barely 10,000 hours of awake time in two years. Nor does the 10,000 hour theory explain, e.g. a friend's son who can decode text lightly encrypted into abstract symbols at normal reading speed - a little over a year after after he started to read English. The 10,000 hour theory occupies the same niche as every piece of self-help snake oil, whether it is intended as such: a comforting feeling that the formula will bring success to the reader.
• clicks 13y ago
  The 10,000 hour rule is not just about 10,000 hours. If you read Gladwell's book (or better, the research that Gladwell seems to cite), you find that there are important things that go along the 10,000 hour rule, probably the most important being a great teacher with a great teaching technique being there for you all the time (such that he/she can give you instantaneous feedback), who keeps pushing (vs. sticking to basic things for too long), deliberate practice, etc. Perhaps the reason why Mozart immediately sticks out is it's hard to conceive in your mind someone becoming that good so quickly. The reality is, with Mozart and probably this prodigy, he has parents who're exemplary in their respective domains (music and art), and they both live in a nurturing environment that served them well. (Oh, and as for Mozart: he didn't become good that quickly. He started composing early, but the compositions that solidified him as a genius came much later on).