Not sure about this. People told me I would not be able to learn piano as an adult, but after 5 years of playing 15 - 30 minutes per night I feel like I am about as good as a child or teenager who put in the same amount of time. I am starting to see how people can sight read at full speed (vs me for an intermediate piece I might be able to get 20% speed, with probably poor accuracy).
I think you might be comparing someone else’s 20 - 25+ years of experience (eg, someone who has consistently played piano their whole life) to your ability to pick up a new skill from scratch. There is just a huge time sink for a brand new topic and it takes anyone a ton of time. So if you really wanted to pick up some theoretical physics or something, but are currently bad at math, it might take 15 years just to get to the beginning to really be one someone’s level who… Started 15 years ago.
Unless I guess if there is unlearning time. Like the smarter every day video where they made a reverse turning bicycle that was impossible for people to use unless they spent forever relearning, vs his son who picked it up relatively easy. I think they had to unlearn what they knew so well.
Mhm, that’s fair. I feel like there is some degree of intuition and utter top level mastery that may be unattainable as an adult. But I’m talking about something like a second language feeling completely natural, or Olympic level mastery of a skill. And that requires a lot more than just being young as well.
It feels crazy to assert that you can’t learn any skill as an adult though. It’s absolutely hard to make the time like you could as a kid, but if you make it a priority, I feel like pretty much anything is possible. I certainly think you can learn more than enough to be satisfied and have a great time and impress others and all that good stuff. I don’t need to be a prodigy or an Olympian at something to take joy in learning and doing it.
Not sure about this. People told me I would not be able to learn piano as an adult, but after 5 years of playing 15 - 30 minutes per night I feel like I am about as good as a child or teenager who put in the same amount of time. I am starting to see how people can sight read at full speed (vs me for an intermediate piece I might be able to get 20% speed, with probably poor accuracy).
I think you might be comparing someone else’s 20 - 25+ years of experience (eg, someone who has consistently played piano their whole life) to your ability to pick up a new skill from scratch. There is just a huge time sink for a brand new topic and it takes anyone a ton of time. So if you really wanted to pick up some theoretical physics or something, but are currently bad at math, it might take 15 years just to get to the beginning to really be one someone’s level who… Started 15 years ago.
Unless I guess if there is unlearning time. Like the smarter every day video where they made a reverse turning bicycle that was impossible for people to use unless they spent forever relearning, vs his son who picked it up relatively easy. I think they had to unlearn what they knew so well.
Mhm, that’s fair. I feel like there is some degree of intuition and utter top level mastery that may be unattainable as an adult. But I’m talking about something like a second language feeling completely natural, or Olympic level mastery of a skill. And that requires a lot more than just being young as well.
It feels crazy to assert that you can’t learn any skill as an adult though. It’s absolutely hard to make the time like you could as a kid, but if you make it a priority, I feel like pretty much anything is possible. I certainly think you can learn more than enough to be satisfied and have a great time and impress others and all that good stuff. I don’t need to be a prodigy or an Olympian at something to take joy in learning and doing it.