Of all the gazillion activities my kids can choose from, I've never encouraged them to take piano, or guitar, or musical theater. With two tone-deaf parents, I thought, what's the point?
But apparently, there's only one thing preventing my kids from becoming the next Itzhak Perlman, and it's not a lack of talent. It's lack of practice.
Researchers who study experts across many fields have repeatedly concluded that what separates those experts from their peers is the amount of "deliberate practice" they undertake. K. Anders Ericsson, a cognitive psychologist from the University of Florida, estimates that it takes about 10,000 hours of such concentrated effort to become an expert.
I'm guessing the researchers are talking about cognitive specialties, such as chess, brain surgery, music and the like. Because I just don't believe that, even with 100,000 hours of practice, I could ever run a mile in 4.13 seconds - which is the current world record in the women's mile, held by Russian Svetlana Masterkova.
