In his book Outliers, celebrated author and New York Times columnist Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the “ten thousand hour rule”, a long-standing scientific theory that estimates, very roughly, that it takes 10,000 hours to master any given complex task, like chess, or musical composition.
This theory, and Gladwell’s exploration of it, resurfaced in the writer’s New York Times blog this week, with Gladwell addressing critics of this theory, focussing mainly on Sports writer David Epstein, who puts forward that “the ten-thousand-hour idea must be understood as an average.” He agrees with the writer on several points but, then criticises Epstein’s citation of a study which found that “it takes only four thousand hours to reach ‘international levels’ in basketball. The study in question was of a sample of players from the Australian men’s basketball team.”
Gladwell goes on to say “I have nothing against either Australia or Australian basketball. But I’d be a bit more impressed if someone could find a starting point guard in the N.B.A. with fewer than ten years of basketball under his belt. Arguments about what it takes to be an elite performer are less persuasive if the performers being studied aren’t actually elite.”
U wot m8? Aren’t actually elite? AREN’T ACTUALLY ELITE? Sounds like you DO have something against ‘Straya, mate. You’ve insulted our sportspeople, Gladwell, and that’s taking it ONE STEP TOO FAR. I bet it wouldn’t take 10,000 hours for Andrew Bogut to learn how to SNAP YOU IN THE FACE! If you’ve got something to say, why don’t you come over here and fight us irl not just on the internet? Do you even lift?
Pfff. Gladwell. I bet you can’t even dunk.
