Adam Gopnik on The Real Work – How We Learn & Master New Skills

In a quest discover how we obtain mastery, The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik apprenticed himself to a dancer, an artist, a boxer and even a driving instructor. A brilliantly perceptive critic of art, food, France, and more, Adam recently became obsessed by a fundamental matter: how do the subjects of his writing learn their outlandish skills?

To find out the answer to the mystery of mastery, Adam apprenticed himself to a dazzling array of talented people from many walks of life, trying his late middle-aged hand at things he assumed were beyond him. He discovered that mastering a skill is a process of methodically breaking down and building up, piece by piece – and that true mastery, in any field, requires mastering other people's minds.

For anyone who has ever wanted to better themselves, this is your chance to learn how to learn from a true master of his craft – and a jack of many other trades besides.

[kofiagyare]

That was lovely! Itching to get a hand on Adam’s book now - if it’s anything like this interview, it should make for riveting reading.