Salon - - Two eye-openers

Doug Nelson · #1 11-06-2005, 01:06 PM

These may be common knowledge to everyone but me, but I was shocked twice in two days by two things I learned:

1) There's an acknowledged standard called the 10,000 hour rule. This basically says you have to practice hard for a minimum of 10,000 hours to master a sport, skill, or subject. That's 5 years of fulltime practice (and this assumes it's a subject you have talent in to begin with). I came across this while reading a blog and thought the author was making it up to make a point, but I googled it and it seems to have credibility.

2) From CBS news this morning: television programmers are known to prefer reaching a younger market. This wasn't news to me. Advertisers feel older audiences aren't affected by advertising, so they don't want to waste money that could be spent manipulating younger minds. But what I didn't know was that, if a network learns that they're starting to attract the 50+ market, they will take proactive steps to get rid of them! I knew TV was getting worse every year, but I didn't know it was deliberate.

kschulz · #2 11-06-2005, 09:56 PM

1) Given my golf scores, I think I could believe this one...just another 7500 hours to go...

2) Yep, this one explains a lot for me. Er, did they give any hints as to exactly what those steps were?

Robt · #3 11-08-2005, 10:30 PM

I wonder if this applies to PS? I've got a real time in these past several years of about 3-4000 hrs involved and am at the point that I know enough PS to screw things up with style. What will a few thousand more bring me?

I taught as well as trained electrician apprentices [as their boss and at times their teacher] for a number of years and the students, after we changed the program from a 4 to a 5 year duration were, with few exceptions better - both in the field and at testing - better. We made the change [from 4 to 5 yrs] not because of Doug's 10000 hr thing but because the public schools weren't teaching enough or good enough math for them to learn how not to toast our customers.

I buy the tale.

twinkissed · #4 11-08-2005, 10:36 PM

I guess it could be possible that it is 10000 hours to master anything and then I believe that once you reach 11000 you tend to go in reverse.

As for the second part... Sometimes I think it's if they are attracting too many families in the market as well and will spoil a perfectly fine family program with unfamily friendly commercials.