Peak

What Hacker News says

1. epolanskiDec 2025
   There's lots of psychological and anthropological studies behind the fact that most experts in various fields excel due to pattern recognition not reasoning.

   Going back to the chess example, while chess masters are incredible at analyzing complex positions they can recognize as "similar to", their advantage over normal human beings is very small when positions are completely randomized.

   "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise", by Ericsson goes more in depth of the topic, but there's lots of literature on the topic.

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2. wcfrobertFeb 2025
   I mostly agree with you, I don't do SR myself, but I do think the benefit of spaced repetition is solid for medical students/researchers and language learners.

   Also some people just find it fun to go through their Anki deck instead of doomscrolling while on the subway or waiting in line. Whether there's any real benefit for that person is debatable. It's “fun“ in the same way going to the gym, or drinking kale smoothie is fun.

   The key for improvement is deliberate practice, and one component of that is "working really hard" which you've pointed. But this is still too vague to be helpful. For those interested in the science of expertise, I highly recommend Peak by Andres Ericsson.

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3. Astro-DomineSep 2024
   Thank you for taking the time to write this. I have sourced the two books off eBay and will start the coursera course.

   I’ve just finished Robert Pool and Anders Ericsson’s book “Peak” - which has convinced me to stop comparing my unpractised, lack of understanding to the practiced expertise of others. So the two practice books you recommended have come at a time where I am especially receptive to the idea!

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4. sonabinuAug 2024
   Ericsson’s book Peak is a great read on the topic https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp...?
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5. sul_tastoDec 2022
   The best book on this topic is by the expert who conducted the research- Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Ericsson ISBN 0544456254
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6. lnwlebjelOct 2022
   Your response carries much too much confidence. There is no debate any longer - the story is pretty well worked out [1][2]. Nature only gets you so far. See for example how much top pro golfers practice (or musicians, or whatever ..). (Not that it matters but I learned this late in life and was able to apply the knowledge to make it near the top of my admittedly very narrow field). Sure, at the top 0.1%, maybe even 1%, your nature really matters, but you still need to practice.

   You, meaning anyone, could probably practice hard and join the upper x% of just about anything (setting aside things like the NBA that overvalue nature). What x is, well that is subject to debate. So is the source of motivation, and that is almost the most important thing.

   [1] Peak, by K. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool [2] talent code, by Daniel Coyle

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