The Lost Art of Becoming Good at Things

One of the best things I've done recently is get rid of my TV and Netflix account (to avoid streaming on my laptop). I've also got rid of my internet connection (so I can't mindless browse the net).<p>When I do need the internet I usually just head down to a local coffee shop to check emails (usually twice a day), download API docs, etc. Plus I get a nice break and get to have a nice coffee. You'll be surprised how much you are not missing out by delaying emails and twitter checks. I've found my productivity has increased significantly since I'm less distracted with twitter updates, chat messages, incoming mails, etc. And of course, for emergency internet connectivity, I always have my iPhone + 3G. The iPhone is great, since it is perfect for emergency look ups of information but a hindrance enough to not aimlessly browse the web. I also like that HN doesn't have a nice mobile compatible style sheet ;-)

If everyone is failing to become experts in things, it means that the value of the expert goes up. This is derived from the fact that the value of an expert is relative to the number of non-experts.<p>In consulting this is a huge win for experts, since my industry is littered with people who could largely be considered incompetent. So I don't see this as being a lost art.<p>Plus, is expertise considered an art? IMO it's more a science or a craft.

This is a view that has been voiced periodically during the advance of human communication. There are certainly downsides just as there are positives. A nice encapsulation of the topic and it's counterpoint are presented by Paul Flatters in his BBC Four Thought talk: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fourthought" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fourthought</a> MP3: <a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/fourthought/fourthought_20120104-2059b.mp3" rel="nofollow">http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/fourthought/fourt...</a>

Fair point. I spend far too much time on my laptop in front of the television pretending that I'm being kinda-sorta constructive just because I happen to be answering work related emails.<p>Time is valuable, time to treat it as such.

Becoming an expert at something is hard. Training requires a lot of mental and phisycal effort, and not a lot of people are willing to sweat it.<p>I believe that in order to stay motivated to become an expert, you need to have a clear goal. Why do you want to go the gym everyday? Why would you spend hours after office researching and learning about new technology? If you can't define the why, you will probably fail.

The problem is that consuming is social and doing tends not to be. It's hard to come home to your family and tell them that TV is bad, instead we should all go our separate ways and work on personal hobbies/projects. Exercising is the one thing that is social, but usually not if you want to get to the expert level.

It's definitely a lost art: the page is down.