Science

Here’s the thing no one tells you about writing books: you spend a fair amount of time feeling kinda clueless. I realize, you’re not supposed to say that. Writing a book is supposed to be … keep reading

I was flipping through The Art of Fielding the other day (which is super-great, and just out in paperback). It’s about a few seasons in the life of a small-college baseball team and its unlikely … keep reading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U68bZbMM7q8&feature=player_embedded I love this for a lot of reasons, especially for Sendak’s thoughts about the unmistakable feeling of doing good work at the 2-min mark. But really, the whole thing is worth watching. “It’s sublime, … keep reading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UELAu70qXlI Last night my lovely bride and I snuck out to the movies at Cleveland’s old Capitol Theater. Screen 1 showed a preview of the colossal whiz-bang new Avengers movie (we weren’t invited, naturally). Screen … keep reading

Much of the research about learning and the brain could be distilled into a few simple words: Mistakes are good.  Struggle makes you smarter. When it comes to applying this lesson to our lives, the … keep reading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpF3326_b5g&feature=player_embedded#! Ethan Walmark is six, he’s got autism, and he loves playing piano (he’s been learning by ear since he was tiny). Here, he plays one of his favorites: “Piano Man,” by Billy Joel. It’s … keep reading

Most of us instinctively spend a lot of time and energy seeking the big breakthrough: that magical moment when, after a lot of effort, everything finally clicks: when you play the song perfectly, ace the … keep reading

As I’ve traveled around talking to teachers and coaches, there’s one refrain I hear over and over: The kids are great. The problem is the parents. I think this is deeply true, most prominently in … keep reading

The other day Stephen, my daughter’s violin teacher, pointed out a pattern he’d noticed when he was teaching his students to play difficult passages. When he instructed students to try to play it perfectly five … keep reading

I’m about the ten-millionth person to make this point, but wouldn’t it be great if we could learn everything as fast and efficiently as we learn video games? If we could learn to play violin … keep reading