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Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein (Summary)

thegeneralistlens
2 min readNov 21, 2021
Range by David Epstein

The book in 50 words:

Cultivating range may give you an edge in an increasingly complex, conceptual yet specialised world.

My collection of nuggets:

  1. Sampling many instruments can help boost performance in each instrument.
  2. The myth of an early, specialized head start: There is a myth that starting learning and practising skills from an early age will have lasting impact on our mastery and achievement of the skill (think “10,000 hours” popularised by Tiger Woods/Malcolm Gladwell). This may be effective for certain “closed skills” with predictable patterns (e.g. golf) or in “kind environments” but less relevant in complex, unpredictable skills (such as tennis).
  3. Research shows that frustration in learning helps boost long term understanding and retention. We need time to understand concepts (including the frustration of figuring it out), not just following procedures.
  4. The value of analogical thinking (making connections) VS. basing narrowly on an inside view — Unlike kind environment problems where we can infer by pattern, wicked problems require us to reference a broader set of analogies to predict the uncertain outcome. Use analogies from a more distant…

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