Originally Posted by canklecat

This is derived from Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule, which Gladwell himself says has been distorted and misrepresented.

In a 2014 interview Gladwell was quoted as saying:


In a recent interview Gladwell said one of his main points was that such dedication to achieving excellence is all-consuming, requiring a support base to free that person from all distractions in pursuit of a single goal. That pursuit of accomplishment comes at the expense of family, friends, coworkers and a community who take on larger burdens to free up the individual to achieve personal goals.

This is an unpopular corollary to the 10,000 hour rule because it contradicts the concept of individual accomplishment, the one man army, pull yourself up by your bootstrappers, the rugged individual carving out a niche at no expense to others,

And, again, mere repetition does not accomplish excellence, clarity or even any improvement whatsoever. If anything improper repetition reinforces errors and leads to physical injuries or mental blocks that are extraordinarily difficult to repair.

The body is less adaptable with age. There are greater risks of brain injury even from impacts that don't directly impact the head.

Add to that the psychological barriers involving painful impacts to the body. It changes even very experienced martial artists. Some boxers experience impaired cognitive abilities and slowed reflexes. Others become gun shy, mentally scarred by knockout losses or painful, grueling fights. Rather than learning from those experiences and developing better defenses, they instinctively and reflexively do exactly the wrong things that make them more vulnerable to repeated knockouts or injuries. Other athletes involved in non-contact sports and activities never recover mentally from crashes or serious injuries from accidents, collisions, etc.

So I'm skeptical of the notion of 50+ casual cyclists and amateur athletes learning to "roll with a fall" or any other method that demands physical mastery involving a complex stew of reflexes, coordination, strength, flexibility and an instinctive mindset.

I suspect that we often give ourselves credit for happenstances, falling the right way accidentally despite ourselves, and selectively forgetting the times we screwed up. If we crash and emerge unscathed, we congratulate ourselves on our youthful reflexes and instincts. If we're injured, we chalk it up to unavoidable circumstances. That's what enables us to pursue potentially risky activities in the first place.