Mastery

How Learning Transforms Our Brains, Minds, and Bodies

Arturo E. Hernandez

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781633889415
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Neuroscience & Neuropsychology
• Index: Psychology

To the outsider, an expert seems as if they are doing everything effortlessly. A master chess player, an expert golfer, and a prolific writer seem to be able to quickly home in on what needs to be done and execute flawlessly over and over again. How do we master new skills? How do our brains and bodies transform performance from novice to expert? In Mastery, Arturo E. Hernandez shows that new skills are not built but rather bloom from the combination and recombination of small parts that come to represent a new whole.

The process by which smaller things are blended over and over again is one that is not just restricted to high-level experts. Uniting the latest research findings from a cross section of disciplines and case studies with compelling storytelling, Mastery shows readers how the blooming of abilities can work in their favor and lead them to achieve much more than they thought was possible. Whether mastering a new language, learning to play a musical instrument, improving your tennis serve, or sharpening your memory, Hernandez teaches readers how to take advantage of our adaptability and open our minds to their fullest potential. Rather than hyperfocus and overspecialization, moving our focus from rigid perfection to a form of flexible adaptation can lead to unexpected improvement. This approach to skill sheds light on how to better harness our talents so that we can accomplish things that are seemingly out of reach.

For anyone looking to learn a new skill, teach someone else to do the same, or to better understand how our brains evolve and excel, this fascinating tour of cognition will reveal the path to surprising potential.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1 The Right Kind of Practice
• Chapter 2 Case Study: The Dan Plan and Becoming an Expert as an Adult
• Chapter 3 Emergence in Human Life
• Chapter 4 Case Study: The Tennis Serve as an Emergent Function
• Chapter 5 Childhood, Adolescence, and the Importance of Starting Small
• Chapter 6 Case Study: Tom Byer and the Art of Small Ball
• Chapter 7 Faces, Reading, and the Road to New Skills
• Chapter 8 Case Study: How Jane and Gavin Use Motion to Recognize the Unrecognizable
• Chapter 9 The Long Road to Adult Language Acquisition
• Chapter 10 Case Study: How Cricket Made Ash Barty a Better Tennis Player
• Chapter 11 A Gene Rarely Does Its Work Alone
• Chapter 12 Case Study: Shuangjie and Esther and Bob and Mike: Identical Is Never Identical
• Chapter 13 Our Two Selves
• Chapter 14 Case Study: Tom Brady, James Flynn, and Our Changing Environment
• Chapter 15 Evolution, Revolution, and the Path to Skill Development
• Chapter 16 Final Case Study: The Teachings of Don Memo, an Emergentist’s Path to Improvement
• Conclusion: Five Principles of Mastery
• Bibliography