Years ago, I made a realization that changed how I write. That realization was that I’m weird and almost nobody reads the way I do. Previously, I thought my blog reading habits were pretty typical. Subscribe to a dozen or so blogs, and read most of the articles they write. If I find myself skimming […]
Archives for December 2014
Improve Creative Skills by Reducing Degrees of Freedom
In the original research on deliberate practice, an important distinction is made between work and practice. The goal of work is to accomplish something. The goal of practice is to learn. Work is a basketball game or recital. Practice is layup drills or training your fingers to master a tricky combination of notes. Unfortunately creating […]
Different Kinds of Difficulty
How difficult is it to learn a new language, start a business, or write a book? These are common questions, but unfortunately the answers you’ll get from people aren’t very satisfying. The problem is that the word “difficulty” is horribly imprecise. There are different kinds of difficulty, and although the English language likes to lump […]
Knowing Facts Still Matters (Even in an Age of Wikipedia)
A popular meme is that knowing a lot of facts is unimportant for being able to think well. Albert Einstein stated this idea best when he said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Perhaps in a previous time, when instant access to answers on Google or Wikipedia wasn’t available, facts were important. But nowadays, the […]