Learning about Sampling

 Spent a bulk of the weekend  gooing through chapters from different audio books.  My favorites for this weekend are the beginning chapters of David Epstein's Range.  in these early chapters, Epstein contrasts the way Tiger Woods and Roger Federer built their dominance in theri respective sports.

Tiger is an archetype for the early start as well as maintaining focus on one career track.  on the other hand, Roger Federer did a lot of sampling before settling for tennis.  Epstein then pursuade us that Roger's approach is a better fit for most of the career domains out there.

Quoting Hogarth, Epstein gives us two learning environments: kind versus wicked.

Golf is a good example of a kind learning environment.  It is a structured game whereby athletes can benefit from an early start.  Tennis, in contrast, furnishes an example of wicked learning environment.

Roger Federer played sports including badminton, soccer, and other sports before settling for tennis.  such range allowed him to develop the hand-eye coordination as well as range of body movements that let him excel in tennis.

in a later chapter, Epstein tells us that Nobel Laurates are more likely to participate in performance arts like music or drama in addition to their core career.  This approach may seem unfocused, yet it lets them build cognitive flexibility that underpins their success.

i find these early chapters inspirational.  they persuade me to expand the subject matter domains of the books that i want to read.  These chapters also persuade me to adopt creative hobbies as part of living an enriched and rewarding life.  I mean, it does not hurt to emulate Nobel Laurates, right?

i look forward to my sampling experience.  Hopefully in a few years from now, i have a rich set of mental models that let me navigate through life more successfully.