Patterns at Last

This was a great discussion by Gladwell and Epstein on the topic of practice, the 10,000 “rule” and greatness. While sports seems to be the topic from the name of the conference, the conversation is much broader and can be applied to any issue. Interesting stuff!

I very much enjoyed one part where Malcolm discusses how Wayne Gretzky watched hockey on TV when he was three and cried each time the game ended. Hockey serendipitously fit his imagination beyond his physical ability, the game itself held something satisfying for his mind. But also, as he progressed in his sports career, that he learned to recognize patterns that others could not see. Malcolm relates this to chess grandmasters who learn to see patterns after thousands of hours of playing and methodical practice. Their brains have “been there, done that”,” so what appears to be uncorrelated points of data to the unpracticed, appears as a coherent and familiar pattern to them.

I relate this to something that just happened to me. I don’t have many sports experiences to draw upon, but just a few days ago, I had the experience of recognizing a pattern. I have been very casually jogging for a few years now. Because I log most runs with Nike Run Club, I know that I have logged 658 miles, which makes me somewhere between a winded newbie and a complete beginner.

We all know that arm swing relates to the dynamics of leg motion, and is correlated in a positive way to the balance and successful arc of running. Our arms propel us, with our upper bodies moving in complement to our legs to push us through space. Nothing could be a more straightforward concept, but I didn’t understand this until one moment, just a few days ago.

I looked at my shadow and saw the triangle of light on the ground as I moved my elbow beyond my back with the swing of the stride. I’m not sure why this clicked just then, but I somehow very fully understood how the eccentric tension of the shoulder muscle empowers the opposite foot to be spring-loaded with potential energy. I’m not quite sure it even makes sense to write, but all at once, I understood the pattern of correctly balanced upper and lower movement.

I shifted my form a bit to adjust to this new understanding. It felt like I was standing a bit more up and forward and I was immediately and objectively faster. (Not fast by any absolute standard, but faster).

That was a pattern; I realized in a moment how a series of things work together into a cohesive whole. It wasn’t about knowing this — I had to live inside this simple pattern for a few years to recognize it. It brings to mind a few questions:

• Do some people intuit these patterns immediately, with little or no practice?

• Are there objective times when most people recognize the same things? For example, does this simple pattern emerge and “click” for most people at around 600 miles?

• What further patterns are there to something as simple as running?

• Can we unlock potential by being told these patterns or do we have to live them? Meaning, why do these kinds of things have to take years?

• Are the most meaningful patterns always simple? Straight forward, almost common sense rhythms that we have to experience deeply before we benefit from them?

• Young people tend to see their experiences as uniquely individual (particular to themselves), while older people tend to view their experiences in relation to other experiences and other people (patterned). Is what we call wisdom, pattern recognition?

It frustrates me to think that our lives are constantly submerged in patterns that we cannot distinguish. However, I’m looking forward to learning more very simple things.