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tansreads's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
A really good message and overall points but personally have a hard time reading anecdotes after anecdotes, so definitely mostly skim read…
Some good quotes:
“It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment”
Some good quotes:
“It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment”
“Don’t feel behind”
“because even as more subjects were added, most perceived themselves as dark horses who followed what seemed like an unlikely path.*
“because even as more subjects were added, most perceived themselves as dark horses who followed what seemed like an unlikely path.*
Dark horses were on the hunt for match quality. "They never look around and say, 'Oh, I'm going to fall behind, these people started earlier and have more than me at a younger age,'" Ogas told me. "They focused on, 'Here's who I am at the moment, here are my motivations, here's what I've found I like to do, here's what I'd like to learn, and here are the opportunities. Which of these is the best match right now? And maybe a year from now I'll switch because I'll find something better." Each dark horse had a novel journey, but a common strategy. "Short-term planning," Ogas told me. "They all practice it, not long-term planning." Even people who look like consummate long-term visionaries from afar usually looked like short-term planners up close.”
typish's review against another edition
4.0
The repetion of the same structure in each chapter (anecdote, some studies, anecdotes) gets boring, and I'm not a fan of anecdotes and mostly skipped those, but interesting stuff
kristenbooks's review against another edition
ok I haven't picked up this audiobook in MONTHS and forgot I was reading it, so I'm putting it back on my tbr shelf until I decide to read it again
portavionciteste's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
hakkun1's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
carouselbuckets's review against another edition
3.0
Breakthroughs and progress thrive with space and creativity. Lateral + broad thinking, as opposed to hyper-specialization, etc is not appreciated in today’s world (but it should be). Be flexible to pivot into a new domain or approach. Avoid sunk cost fallacy.
greden's review against another edition
5.0
The book is much needed in a time of hyper-specialization, where we're told we need to find one thing from an early age and stick with it ceaselessly if we ever want to be great at it. Epstein flips these views and gives plenty of examples where generalists outperform specialists, where the ground-breaking scientific discoveries were found not by people who had dedicated their entire life to that particular field - but those who could draw from a wide range of experience.
The way you learn determines how well it's going to be generalizable. If you try to learn a skill with a program or tool that promises that it's going to be "fast and easy," stay away. True generalizable learning comes from hard, painstaking work and experimentation. Getting good as fast as possible, learning tricks to impress, and cramming for tests in counterproductive in the long term, and will limit the skill ceiling.
Epstein points out one study where math classes in an airforce program, the teachers that were evaluated the worst by the students had the most successful students in the advanced math classes. The teachers with the bad evaluation made it hard and painstaking for the students to learn, forcing them to master the basics. Even though the students didn't feel they were learning that much, they were better off than the others in the long term.
I've found for myself that there are certain solid rules behind every skill. Mastering one skill paves the path of learning another, and one skill can provide a framework of analogy to another, which is may prove invaluable. In addition, the ability to learn is a skill in itself. I lean towards generalization because when I look at people who have excel at something, they tend to have a very wide range of expertise. Some people have a range and depth of expertise beyond belief, and I can only understand it by how understanding is generalizable.
Epstein closes the book with the advice "don't feel behind." Funnily enough, not knowing exactly what you want to do from an early age might be an advantage.
The book is probably one of the best non-fiction works written in recent years, and as someone with a wide range of interests, reading it was like a long injection of morphine.
The way you learn determines how well it's going to be generalizable. If you try to learn a skill with a program or tool that promises that it's going to be "fast and easy," stay away. True generalizable learning comes from hard, painstaking work and experimentation. Getting good as fast as possible, learning tricks to impress, and cramming for tests in counterproductive in the long term, and will limit the skill ceiling.
Epstein points out one study where math classes in an airforce program, the teachers that were evaluated the worst by the students had the most successful students in the advanced math classes. The teachers with the bad evaluation made it hard and painstaking for the students to learn, forcing them to master the basics. Even though the students didn't feel they were learning that much, they were better off than the others in the long term.
I've found for myself that there are certain solid rules behind every skill. Mastering one skill paves the path of learning another, and one skill can provide a framework of analogy to another, which is may prove invaluable. In addition, the ability to learn is a skill in itself. I lean towards generalization because when I look at people who have excel at something, they tend to have a very wide range of expertise. Some people have a range and depth of expertise beyond belief, and I can only understand it by how understanding is generalizable.
Epstein closes the book with the advice "don't feel behind." Funnily enough, not knowing exactly what you want to do from an early age might be an advantage.
The book is probably one of the best non-fiction works written in recent years, and as someone with a wide range of interests, reading it was like a long injection of morphine.
danielaraujopt's review against another edition
2.0
In such an interesting topic, the book is 90% semi-random stories, many of which very well known. As I finished it, I was left with very little as takeaway, sadly.