Guess what? Practice definitely does NOT always lead to perfection. When you practice an instrument are you doing it right? In this episode I explore the “10,000 hour” myth and how you can practice something – like an instrument or a language – in a way that is going to result in much faster learning. We’ll see that the idea that you don’t need to memorize anything because you can always look it up on Google doesn’t hold water and we’ll take a look at the evidence that Facebook might be rotting your brain (it isn’t).
Resources for this Episode
- Exploding the 10,000 hours myth – it’s no guarantee for greatness
- The 10,000 Hours Rule Is a Myth
- Small Teaching by Robert Lang
- Study links Facebook use to reduced gray matter volume in the nucleus accumbens

One Comment on “Ep 283: How To Practice Correctly and is Facebook Rotting Your Brain?”
Yes, thanks for reminding us about the quality of practice versus the 10,000 hours. I’ve spent 10000+ hours at chess and am still no where near mastery.
Interesting question you posed “Why do students hate school?” -Maybe classes required that the student doesn’t have natural aptitude for. Perhaps specialization should start earlier than college or even high school? Especially in an ever-increasing competitive environment. I’ve heard China does extensive, (annual?), testing of students and placement in classes based on results. We need more guidance for effective and efficient practice.