I recently read an op-ed piece by David Brooks in the NY Times, entitled “Genius: The Modern View.” He opened by saying that we have this view that genius comes from a rare person possessing a kind of divine spark, some innate talent that the person was born with. He went on to say, however, that the latest research reveals a different view:
“What Mozart had, we now believe, was the same thing Tiger Woods had – the ability to focus for long periods of time and a father intent on improving his skills. Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age, so he got his 10,000 hours of practice in early and then he built from there.
“The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.”
I don’t know if you are thinking what I’m thinking. If geniuses in music and sports are produced by “deliberate practice,” by countless hours of “rigorously practicing their craft,” then why not geniuses in spirituality? Why not geniuses in holiness? Why not geniuses in love?
Could it be that the only thing that separates us from a Jesus or a Buddha is nothing but that rigorous, deliberate practice? That is the question that has been on my mind since reading Brooks’ piece.
