Quotessence
Home / Authors / Daniel Levitin
Daniel Levitin

Daniel Levitin Quotes

Neuroscientist

Filter quotes by topic

AllBrainPeopleArtWorldHumansInformationNeedsThinkingCasesDecisionIfsKnowsMindYearsBelieveClassCognitiveEventsEvidenceForm

Famous Daniel Levitin Quotes

“Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years... No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”

KnowsWorldNeedsYearsLongSeemsThreeFoundHoursBrainClassPracticeCasesWeekAchieveThousandTenAccomplishedMasteryExpertiseWorld Class
Author:Daniel Levitin
Create image

“Decision-making is difficult because, by its nature, it involves uncertainty. If there was no uncertainty, decisions would be easy! The uncertainty exists because we don't know the future, we don't know if the decision we make will lead to the best possible outcome. Cognitive science has taught us that relying on our gut or intuition often leads to bad decisions, particularly in cases where statistical information is available. Our guts and our brains didn't evolve to deal with probabilistic thinking.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWould BeEasyDifficultDecisionDealsBrainCasesInformationTaughtAvailableIntuitionEvolveUncertaintyOutcomesGutsDecision MakingCognitiveTaught UsBad DecisionCognitive ScienceDecisions We Make
Author:Daniel Levitin
Create image

“In order to be a world-class expert in anything, be it audiology, drama, music, art, gymnastics, whatever, one needs to have a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean that if you put in 10,000 hours that you will become an expert, but there aren't any cases where someone has achieved world-class mastery without it! So the time spent at the activity is indeed the most important and influential factor.”

IfsWorldNeedsMeanArtImportantOrderHoursClassPracticeCasesDramaActivityFactorsExpertsMasteryMinimumInfluentialGymnasticsTime SpentWorld Class
Author:Daniel Levitin
Create image

“The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert - in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again…no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”

KnowsWorldNeedsLongSeemsFoundHoursLevelsNumbersBrainFictionClassPracticeCasesStudyPlayerAchieveMastersThousandTenBasketballCome UpCriminalsChessIceExpertsAccomplishedConcertsComposerMasteryAgain And AgainEmergingExpertisePianistFiction WritersBasketball PlayerWorld ClassChess PlayersSkater
Author:Daniel Levitin
Create image