(no subject)

[lethargic_man]

I have read, in more than one place, that you can't become expert in anything without putting in I think it was ten thousand hours of practice. (To the objection "what about child prodigies like Mozart or Stevie Wonder?", the response was given that they were only prodigious as children for their age: had Mozart died as a child, no one would remember him today.)

I find this rather depressing: it means that I will now almost certainly never become an expert at anything again (except, probably, at work): I don't have the willpower to climb that hill again in my spare time. Certainly not after seeing the dream I poured thousands upon thousands of hours into in my teens and twenties deliver next to zero results.

*sigh* Is it really all downhill from here?

Discuss. [20 marks]

Comments

[rav-hadassah.livejournal.com]

I think it's rubbish.

Set foot in a shul for the first time in 2001/2002 when I was about 23. Flaked in learning Hebrew for years. Only started really learning in 2006, and even that wasn't a great class. Took a summer ulpan in 2008 and now I am in rabbinical school and starting Gemara this semester.

I didn't grow up with any of this and my skills are almost as good as those who did. So there. I think it's rubbish and don't let it deter you.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Decides how big a field you're talking about, I suppose. Small fields can be mastered in less time.

[rav-hadassah.livejournal.com]

I'm not just talking Hebrew here. I'm talking Judaic knowledge in general. Studying texts, Mishnah, Halacha, Jewish Philosophy won't do without knowing context. It's a big field.