The Talent Code Persuasive Analysis

If we go way back to 1879, we can take a look at one of the most iconic examples in history of how repeated attempts, or practices, if you will, led to one of the greatest inventions in history: the invention of the light bulb. This highly respected inventor, Thomas Edison, once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas Edison certainly had his extreme amounts of practice in while trying to develop the perfect concoction to complete the light bulb. It is estimated that he tried more than 3,000 different ways to invent the light bulb, before he found the one that worked. I don’t have exact numbers here, but I would say that he got in his 10,000 hours of practice. Instead of letting his mistakes hold him back, letting them drag him down, letting them cause him to quit, he used them to help get him where he wanted to be. He learned what he should and shouldn’t do each time, and with all this practice of trying to create a light bulb, he ends up inventing the same thing that caused him so many long and hard hours of practice. Another example of how the mistakes you can learn from and fix through practice to come out on top is the story of another Olympics gymnast known as Aly Raisman. In the

“Hey guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you” (Qtd. In Krakauer 69). After graduating from Emory University, Christopher McCandless abandoned everything, gave his entire savings account to charity, and then hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wild. In the novel, Into the Wild, Was McCandless justified in shunning society? McCandless was justified in shunning society because he simply wanted to find himself and be independent without any distractions from his friends or family.

The road to greatness is a long path filled with struggle and time. Based on research by the best-selling author Malcom Gladwell inside his book Outliers popularized the idea of 10,000 hours of guided practice “the magic number of greatness”(Gladwell, 47). With enough practice he said anyone could achieve any work that of a professional. While some say the 10,000 hour rule is the key to success I believe that success is based on genetics, talent, and time period. It is whether one was born with the talent, achieved it later within life or was born during the wrong time period is what makes a master out of someone. Where the 10,000 hour rule is not a truth.

Divided into parts on “Opportunity” and “Legacy” the writings of Gladwell focus on shattering the myth that “success is exclusively a matter of merit” (67). As Gladwell exhibits, through the example of Hockey, the common belief is that “Success…is based on individual merit” (17). However, after a thoughtful analysis of precursory, and undeserved opportunities, such as, birth month, time spent practicing due to being selected because of age grouping, and “accumulative advantage[s],” all of the opportunities were critical to the success of the all-star hockey player; not just talent (30). Moreover, due to the arbitrary access to more practice, an individual (like the hockey player example) is allowed more of a chance to develop their skills.

Early specialization is characterized by year-round training in a single activity, beginning at a young age, apart from other activities with the goal of developing expertise (Ericsson et al., 1993). Ericsson and his colleagues studied pianists and violinists of varying skill levels and discovered that the expert musicians typically began training between ages four and five while the non-experts started training later in life. Moreover, a pattern emerged indicating that the level of performance attained related to the amount of deliberate practice. By age 20 the best performers had spent over 10,000 hours, an intermediate group had put in 8,000 hours, and the least accomplished group only 5,000 hours. In their theory of deliberate practice, Ericsson et al. (1993) suggest that talent plays no role in the development of expertise, rather it is an effortful activity motivated by the goal of improving performance. Typically, deliberate practice requires a high amount of concentration and must be carried out over time. The obligation to significant amounts of deliberate practice in one sport from a young age has been demonstrated as one approach to developing elite athletes (Helsen et al., 1998).

Taylor Swift, a pop icon and polarizing figure, is often known for her empowering music, feminist attitude, and meaningful lyrics. Many of her fans praise the feminist messages some of her songs deliver, however others say she comes from a position of privilege and only advocates for white women. Still, a common perception of Swift is that she has evolved from an innocent country singer into a more controversial and sometimes provocative pop singer. What is ignored though, is that despite this perception, themes depicted in “old” Taylor’s music still displayed highly problematic concepts about gender, just in less obvious ways. Particularly in her music video for “You Belong With Me,” the audience if presented with a fulfilling love story involving a nerdy girl getting the popular. On its surface, this concept may seem normal, but the narrative of this video unintentionally conveys significant gender issues in today’s society. Thus, through her 2008 music video for “You Belong With Me,” Taylor Swift ironically presents herself as the ideal nerdy girl next door who gets the guy when she suddenly turns beautiful while demonizing a cheerleader, revealing problematic notions of how women are supposed to look and behave in society, as well as reinforcing negative female stereotypes.

After reading The Sports Gene and Outliers, it is determined that people become “talented” with practice and there is no such thing as innate “talent”. In Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, in chapter 2 it is said, “...10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert-in anything.” This supports the idea that people become “talented” with practice. The quote supports the claim because if it is being said that it takes 10,000 hours to master anything, it can be assumed that people do not have innate “talent”, but rather have a level of mastery over many hours of practice. It could be said on the opposite side of the argument that if it takes 10,000 hours to master anything, “ Why is there

Practice can be the key to improving. In every area of education, in every sport, with every musical activity, anything that requires a good performance, those who practice tend to understand the material more. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers states just how important this can be. Going off of the idea that “practice makes perfect”, his entire second chapter is dedicated to persuading his audience to believe 10,000 hours is what it takes to succeed. Examples Gladwell provides include how Mozart didn’t create his greatest works until later in his life after he had gained experience, how the Beatles performed in multiple practice concerts in Hamburg, Germany before becoming musical sensations, and how Bobby Fischer and chess grandmasters

The novels Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, authored by Matthew Quick and November 9, authored by Colleen Hoover, share similar themes and ideas despite their very different styles. Forgiveness is one common theme presented in the texts, shown through similar techniques of foregrounding through flashbacks, as well as other contrasting techniques. The theme of betrayal is shown through anecdote and emotive language in the novels. The importance of relationships is illustrated by Quick and Hoover, as each protagonist experiences an empty, isolated life. Quick and Hoover explore these issues in contrasting ways.*

“Are you even fucking listening? I swear to god sometimes you really piss me the fuck off”

Deliberate practise focuses not only on “learning by doing” but on incorporating clear learning objectives and giving immediate and constructive feedback to the learner. It allows learners to address their weaknesses through repetitive practice. These elements are what make deliberate practise crucial in the attainment of expert

For example, in order for me to learn how to do injections, or draw blood I’d have to practice in a clinic. Doing these tasks correctly means asking others for help when needed, setting a goal, and planning out the strategy to learning it, monitoring my progress, and getting feedback from others about my performance. The best way deliberate practice can help me fully learn these new skills is by practicing them repetitively. You know the saying “practice makes perfect?” You can’t learn how to do billing, or how to administer injections overnight. It takes time, and effort to learn something new. Paying attention to what you’re doing is very important as well.

A trainer for the Team USA basketball program once described how Kobe Bryant practiced deliberately until he made 800 shots in the morning. Although his other teammates were practicing as well, Kobe practiced more hours on specific skills to become an elite player. Similarly, Malcolm Gladwell, who is the founder of the 10,000 hour rule, believes that to be an expert on something, it requires 10,000 hours. This suggests that Kobe practiced to be the best basketball player in the world. If I were to be a NBA player like Kobe, I would need to practice playing basketball for 10,000 hours along with developing teamwork and fundamental skills.

In the Ted Talk “We should aim for perfection- and stop fearing failure”, Jon Bowers outlines his argument for perfection. He begins by giving an example of a “small error” that ended up costing Amazon over $160 million dollars. He then lists more examples draws them forward to present his idea of perfection. The examples show how one tiny error can have an enormous impact and he turns to the audience asking “why we cannot achieve perfection?”. He draws the listeners in by giving personal experience in striving for perfection. “Look, a hundred people die everyday due to vehicular crashes. Think about that for a second. That's like the equivalent of four commercial airliners crashing every week, yet we still can't convince ourselves to pay perfect attention behind the wheel. So I teach my drivers to value perfection”. Jon is an educator for professional delivery drivers and has to ensure that they are prepared to handle any and every situation possible.

Cote et al. (2007) points out the principle of the power law of practice, where great improvements are seen in the initial stages of practice, but the improvements level-off as one becomes an expert. This power relationship seems to be converted into a more linear relationship with increased deliberate practice. Violinists were studied, and time spent in deliberate practice was examined. By 18 years of age, experts accumulated 7,400 hours of practice, whereas intermediate-level performers had 5,300 hours, and lower-level performers only completed 3,400 hours. This linear law of practice seems to be generalizable to other domains, namely sport and chess (Cote et al., 2007, pp. 185). Although deliberate practice is very important, it is not the sole predictor of elite-level