Comments on: Quantity Leads to Quality

By: A Week Free from the Internet – An Experiment

A Week Free from the Internet – An Experiment — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:09:27 +0000

[...] life you’re going to need focus. You need to practice your thing, whatever it might be, with singular dedication until you become an expert. Sure, you can take a break once in a while to unwind. But, where some [...]

By: piebuko

piebuko — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:42:01 +0000

Thank you so much for this post! this is a life saver – or at least a grade saver. I have a debate on quantity vs. quality coming up and I was struggling with my speech. This made me see how I can best present my arguments.
by the way, I’m on the opposition side (the quantity side).

By: Reading Material for Boys: Different than for Girls

Reading Material for Boys: Different than for Girls — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:00:10 +0000

[...] is reading as far as I’m concerned. Just like writing, quantity is the tool to achieve competency. It doesn’t matter if 100k words come out of graphic [...]

By: Things They Don’t Teach You In School

Things They Don’t Teach You In School — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:41:55 +0000

[...] learn all the core subjects like math and reading, and that’s good. It’s up to us to put those skills to good use. People tend to think college is a guaranteed ticket to a job and success. If that’s the [...]

By: Levels of Maturity

Levels of Maturity — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:43:22 +0000

[...] treat people as individuals when the numbers are so many. And by doing so the system sacrifices quality for efficiency. I see this in my homeschooling of my boys, and I have just two; they are each quite different, [...]

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:06:06 +0000

Yes, I agree. Success really is "derived from hard work." Much is to be said for setting goals and pursuing them with passion and dedication. .-= Stephanie´s last blog ..FOR FAMILIES: Personalized Map from National Geographic =-.

By: Parents, Find a Passion

Parents, Find a Passion — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:59:13 +0000

[...] I know I’m doing a good job and that the work isn’t easy. Still, I have not mastered a skill that is popularly considered valuable (let’s not kid ourselves about what other people think [...]

By: Keith

Keith — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:33:06 +0000

Hi Wolf, It does seem like some activities are a little more worth while than others, doesn’t it?

By: BigLittleWolf

BigLittleWolf — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:29:00 +0000

Yes, practicing to enhance skills and talents is one of the exceptions in the quantity versus quality debate. But it is a matter of choosing something worthy, a passion, a necessary set of competencies, though I suppose that beer drinking or fly swatting or anything else is a competency to be mastered, with practice, if you wish.

But I’ll take painting or music or writing over all that.

Yes, talent + drive + hard work. QUANTITY, to enhance quality.

Loved this post.
.-= BigLittleWolf´s last blog ..Kissing Booth Marketing =-.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:39:51 +0000

Dennis, of course there is self selection when it comes to mastering skills. People won’t practice something they don’t enjoy. But that has nothing to do with the rule. part of the point is that people stop practicing at the point at which they become bored or the activity no longer interests them or they feel they’ve learned enough. People who do put in the 10,000 hours are those who not only have the aptitude but also the drive. Those who don’t have the aptitude or the drive will not, by self selection, reach that 10,000 hours. Your reasoning doesn’t prove you don’t subscribe to it, it simply explains the rule further. as for Golfers who are hacks. Are they really practicing or are they socializing and using golf as a filler? They aren’t really devoting themselves to it. Practice means doing something with the express intent of getting better at that activity. Golfers who truly practice do indeed get much better, and would reach mastery. the hackers never get to 10,000 hours of real practice. They MIGHT get to 10,000 hours of drinking beer and chatting about the snack cart girl. That’s not the same. You do subscribe to the theory, all you’ve done is explain why people don’t get there.

By: Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:15 +0000

Segovia started learning to play guitar at the age of 40. And 10,000 hours, assuming 40 hours a week is only 5 years. And for those who work 80 hours a week, that’s condensed down to 30 months.

I don’t fully subscribe to the 10,000 rule in Outliers, because there is a self-selection bias. Kids who aren’t good at something aren’t likely to continue practicing– and those who excel will naturally do more. So the 10,000 hours, though correlated with master– is often the result, not the cause.

Look at the hackers on the golf course who have been playing for years and still suck as bad as ever– in fact, reinforcing their bad habits into ever deeper grooves.

That said, I think a positive attitude is the most important element– as losing enthusiasm is the cause of failure. Keith, I enjoyed your post about praising kids, in that there is no such thing as too much praise.
.-= Dennis Yu´s last blog ..Have You Seen Sitelinks in Google AdWords Premium Ad Positions? =-.