Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise is written by Anders Ericsson and co written by Robert Pool. Throughout the book, author Ericsson and coauthor Pool explain in meticulous detail that talent can be achieved through deliberate and purposeful practice. Talent is not innate. Both highly educated authors excel in similar areas.
Author Ericsson received his Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Stockholm, Sweden in 1976, and afterwards he followed a post-doctoral fellowship at Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a Conradi Eminent Scholar and professor of psychology at Florida State University. His area of expertise is the brain, specifically cognitive and memory process dealing with purposeful/deliberate practice, and short (working) and long term memory. Ericsson’s other similar books include Road to Excellence: The Acquisition of Expert Performance in the Arts and Sciences, Sports, and Games and Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data. These books discuss the Theory of Skilled Memory, which was coined to explain both Bill Chase and Ericsson’s findings on the vastly improved digit-span in college students.
Coauthor Robert Pool holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Rice University. He has used his degrees in history, physics, and mathematics to become a science, technology, and medical writer. Pool has taught writing at Johns Hopkins University and has worked as a writer and editor at Science and Nature, two prestigious science publications. Many of Dr. Pool’s works have been published in the top publications including Discover, New Scientist, Science, Nature, Technology Review, Forbes ASAP, Think Research, The Washington Post, FSU Research in Review, MIT Technology Review, and etc. In addition to these publications and Peak, he has written other successful books such as “Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology" and "Eve's Rib: Searching for the Biological Roots of Sex Differences". All in all, Pool’s area of expertise is in the many aspects of science relating to intelligence and counterintelligence.
Lastly, the target audience of this book would be those striving to better themselves or even those who think they have reached their fullest potential. Ericsson and Pool provide innumerable examples throughout their book from experiments that have been performed on individuals to support their claim — people do not need innate talent to excel and many have the seeds of excellence within them. In order to excel, one must set goals, find a coach or mentor, get feedback, and most importantly, find motivation.
-Alice Oum
I agree with the main idea of this novel. Many people think that some are just lucky and easily are able to do things. Which discourages a lot of people from trying to expand their abilities. "Being Smart" is not just natural, anyone can put forth effort and routinely study in order to build upon their intelligence. Our brains are still sponges and we can absorb new information, habits, and talents as long as we are determined to practice and find some type of motivation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you don't have talent just like that, but instead need to practice and practice in order to reach the goal the person wants. I agree with Krystal that when people see others being "lucky" and talented easily, they become discouraged. I like how she compared our brains to sponges in the sense of always soaking up new knowledge.
ReplyDeleteIn accordance to the speaker portion of the post, I find it interesting that the authors, who both extremely intelligent, come from opposite sides of the board when referring to subject of expertise. I suppose in this way, the main idea of Peak is evident, as both are near the top of the intellectual world, yet are able to come together to write to an audience that connects them. I also have found that I agree with the authors' ideas that talent is not necessary to excel at an activity as well, being as there are many examples of those who have achieved goals through hard work and diligence, without a drop of specific aptitude for the task.
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