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Reddit mentions of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Sentiment score: 7
Reddit mentions: 10

We found 10 Reddit mentions of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Here are the top ones.

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
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Found 10 comments on Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise:

u/thechihuahua · 25 pointsr/berkeley

I recommend reading this advice by Babak on getting better at solving problems in CS 70, I think it's still applicable here. You can always get better at solving these types of problems with practice; you just need to do the right kind of practice.


You ask an excellent question. There are books written about this matter. You won't have time to read any of them now, before the midterm. But I'll give you a reference, so you (and everyone else reading this message) can give it a good read, or its audio book a good listen as soon as you get a chance. The book is called

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
by Anders Ericsson and Robert Poole
https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544456238/

It's the kind of book I wish someone had written, and someone else had introduced to me, when I was your age, or even younger. I've given a hard copy to my eight-year-old daughter and I've been nudging her to read it. She's intrigued by what she hears in the car when I play portions of the audio book for her.

At the core is what the authors describe as "deliberate practice," or purposeful practice. This is in contrast to mindless practice, which is to repeat the same thing over and over, expecting to improve (like a person who keeps swinging the tennis racket or playing the violin the same way 1000 times, without a deliberate focus on how to improve). Mindless practice doesn't work.

As you read Ericsson's book, you'll also begin to unlearn much of what you may have heard about the 10,000 hour rule, which Malcolm Gladwell promoted. Ericsson wrote his book in part to dispel some of the misunderstandings that Gladwell's popular book (I believe Outliers) caused.

In the case of studying, you have to not only tackle each problem with an eye toward what it is that the problem is trying to get at, but also do post-mortem analysis. After you solve a problem (or solve it partially, or fail to solve it, or solve it incorrectly), you should review what you did right, what you did wrong, what you could have done more efficiently, how many different angles from which you could've looked at the problem, and what different types of tools you could've tapped into as you attacked the problem.

When I chat with my advisees or students, I recommend that they keep a log, as in a notebook or an electronic equivalent. Each page of the log consists of three columns. The first column you can name "Concept(s)"; the second column "Address(es)"; and the third column "Technique(s)." When you look at a problem, say on a previous midterm, ask yourself, "What is the concept or set of concepts that this problem is covering?"

Sometimes the answer is fully apparent from the surface of the problem. Sometimes it's only partially apparent from a cursory read, and you must read more carefully or think more deeply before you gain access to the treasure inside. And sometimes there's deliberate or unavoidable camouflage that hides the inner core of the problem. With deliberate practice, you get better at dealing with the third kind of problem---by cutting through the clutter or the veil and glimpsing inside.

You can list the identified concepts in Column 1. In Column 2 you write the address of the problem---for example, MT2.3(a)-F18, which might stand for Midterm 2, Problem 3, Part (a) in Fall 2018. In Column 3 you write down the various techniques you can use to tackle the problem. You'll encounter a richer set of tools if you work in a group. I recommend that you get together with study buddies to go over old exams. Each member of your group is bound to see each problem from a unique angle, in a way that the others may have missed. This way you accumulate an arsenal of tools in your toolbox. Interacting with peers, even when you're the one doing the explaining, sharpens your own understanding. The goal is that after some time, you gain proficiency and can dip your hands in your toolbox blindfolded, take the appropriate set of tools, and chisel away at the problem like an expert.

Adapting the words of one of my favorite mathematical writers, G. W. (Pete) Stewart, at the University of Maryland, I'll say that solving problems "is like cutting diamonds. Tap a problem in just the right way, and it decomposes into one or two informative expressions. Smash it with a hammer and it shatters into ugly, uninterpretable pieces." The aim of deliberate practice is to cultivate the craft of problem solving with the dexterity of a diamond sculptor.

Do the practice I suggested for every problem that you encounter---whether in lecture, in discussion, during random conversations about the course with the TAs or with fellow students ... wherever a relevant problem appears before you.

Then, as an exam nears, you have in your possession a full list of concepts that you've come across in the prior weeks. By then you have a good sense of what you're comfortable with and what you're shaky on. Go attack those concepts that you're shaky on.

In front of each concept you'll have at least one (hopefully many more than one) address, telling you where you need to go to strengthen your understanding of that concept or set of concepts. And try to tackle the problem without looking at Column 3. Look at Column 3 only after you've exerted your fair share for that problem (never keep banging your head against the wall on any problem ... this should not be an issue if you work in a group).

The other important aspect of deliberate practice, as Ericsson discusses, is the necessity of feedback. You can get that feedback from the staff, but given the student/TA ratio we have it's not going to be anywhere near enough. Here enter your study buddies or other fellow students, who can given you feedback on what you did right, what you did wrong, and how you can tackle the problem more efficiently.

Yes, all this takes effort. But it's not mindless effort. It's a focused, methodical effort with a vigilant eye toward what you need to do to improve.

It's the valuable interaction with peers that a student misses when they skip lecture I'll issue a separate tome about that in the coming days. Right now, I have to make some exam problems for you! :)

I hope this helped.

Cheers,

Babak.

Hope this helps! Please don't give up; I believe that I actually had the biggest delta in knowledge and grew as problem solver the most in the last third of 61A, which you're in now.

u/heuyie · 9 pointsr/AskMenOver30

* Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

The book is about the subject of deliberate training and explains how spending a long time on specific kinds of training develops your skills. Not a research paper, and the tone of book is casual. Many pages are about the author and people around her, and those explained the motivation of studies about the subject and added real life examples to apply those studies, for example, to parenting. In general, the book is hopeful to motivate you to start training towords your goal.

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Another book is about the subject of deliberate training. I recommend you to read this book after Grit. This book is more like a research paper. The tone of this book is drier than Grit but the book contains the details of the studies and advises you how, when and how much you should practice.


Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff

This book is about activism: love the world and do something instead of preaching gods. Although it is categorized as a Christian book and it certainly mentions god a lot, the message of the book is having the faith in people and the world. One of good things about this book is that the author started out as an ordinary person, who did not have his calling in his teen and was not found by a millionair to assist his business. His life story seems to be much more familiar to me compared to other famous people. Unexpectedly, the story includes the life of an inventor of popular products, and the book served me as his little biography too.

u/GoodAndBluts · 4 pointsr/cogsci

I have a couple (although I have read most of your books, and my favorite is "The man who mistook his wife for a hat is my favorite!)

59 seconds to change your life (Dr. .Richard Wiseman) -
https://www.amazon.com/59-Seconds-Change-Under-Minute/dp/0307474860

In this book wiseman pulls together many interesting studies and turns them into a kind of science-based self help book, showing how you can do simple things to make yourself happy, and how the science backs up what you are doing. Its kind of a "science does life hacks" type of book and I found it fascinating


The conscious universe - (Dr. Dean Radin)
https://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Universe-Scientific-Psychic-Phenomena/dp/0061778990/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474111002&sr=1-1&keywords=dean+radin+conscious

I think this one has to rate as controversial - but I personally found it a compelling read and it shifted my world view off kilter for a long time. Basically the author pulls together all of the experiments on telepathy, clairvoyance, etc. He is an experimental statistician and is able to make a strong case for there being some sort of physchic effect that science cannot explain. I have followed the topic through the years since, but I have not found a particularly strong rebuttal to this books contents

Another one I recently read

Peak - The new science of expertise (Anders Ericson and Robert Pool)
https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544456238/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474111419&sr=1-3&keywords=peak
This book is by the guy who coined the 10,000 hours rule (the one which Gladwell uses in Outliers) - It goes into a lot of scientific studies which have been run investigating how experts become experts - By now we know the soundbyte - 10000 hours - but I thought it was very interesting to see how this applies for different types of expertise, and for the neat experiments which have been run

u/garmin77 · 2 pointsr/learnprogramming

If by more inclined you mean interest being a prerequisite to talent then yes, I agree. Someone passionate about their field is more likely to study and practice for longer periods.

Else I would recommend checking out the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544456238/

It's based on psychologist Anders Ericsson's research on expertise and human performance.

Synopsis is that extraordinary individuals with seemingly innate talent is actually the result of oftentimes intense and grueling practice.

It examines an array of talented people including Chess grandmasters, calculation prodigies, musical geniuses, and elite Navy pilots.

u/b00thead · 2 pointsr/bjj

Very interesting perspective on your thought processes. I think you might enjoy "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" [1] by Anders Ericsson (the guy who came up with the idea of deliberate practice).

It sounds like your practice of running through matches is exactly the right approach to integrate what you've learned into what Ericsson calls your mental representation of BJJ.

My understanding from the book is that this mental model is what drives performance in any field and getting good is essentially just refining and sharpening your model.

I think that this:

> There was a point in my first fight that I nailed a great sweep to counter a guard pass attempt and I’m finding it difficult to piece it all together

may be a symptom of learning to think in terms of your mental model. I think that you might be starting to "chunk" [2] smaller, previously distinct pieces of knowledge (words) into larger, more integrated concepts (sentences). In this way you might be sacrificing some fidelity in order to understand things at a higher level - which I believe is a desirable thing.

Does this make sense? I'm still muddling through how what I've learned might apply to BJJ and other areas of learning so would appreciate your (or anyone else's) thoughts.

[1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544456238 Anders Ericsson

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunking

u/Chambellan · 1 pointr/getdisciplined

Given your science background, I suggest you read Peak by Anders Ericsson. Ericsson’s research into expertise is what Malcolm Gladwell based his 10,000 hours idea upon (which totally misses Ericsson’s conclusions). It’s not at all a “self help” book, but it does an interesting job of explaining how very successful people get to be very successful.

u/mindgamesweldon · 1 pointr/leagueoflegends

Here is a good primer. Actually it's the best since Anders Ericsson is one of the premier researchers in expertise over the last 30 years.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544456238/