Approach your own personal voyage and projects like Michelangelo approached a block of marble, willing to learn and adjust as you go, and even to abandon a previous goal and change directions entirely should the need arise. Research on creators in domains from technological innovation to comic books shows that a diverse group of specialists cannot fully replace the contributions of broad individuals. Even when you move from an area of work or an entire domain, that experience is not wasted.
My initial spark of interest in this topic came after reading viral articles and watching conference keynotes that offered early hyper specialization as some sort of life hack, a prescription that will save you the wasted time of diverse experience and experimentation. I hope I have added ideas to that discussion, because research in myriad areas suggests that mental meandering and personal experimentation are sources of power, and head starts are overrated. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a century ago, of the free exchange of ideas, “It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment.”
There are lots of early specializers in various horsemanship disciplines. And many of them end up as clinicians and authors later in their careers. I’m not saying we should ignore them, but I am saying that Epstein’s research shows that we can study them and take the principles and ideas that we find most useful and combine them with other ideas from other horsemen and horse women. By experimenting with a broad range of ideas from diverse sources of information, we can progress on the path to better horsemanship in the second half of life.
Approach your own personal voyage and projects like Michelangelo approached a block of marble, willing to learn and adjust as you go, and even to abandon a previous goal and change directions entirely should the need arise. Research on creators and domains from technological innovation to comic books shows that a diverse group of specialists cannot fully replace the contributions of broad individuals. Even when you move from an area of work or an entire domain, that experience is not wasted. My initial spark of interest in this topic came after reading viral articles and watching conference keynotes that offered early hyper specialization as some sort of life hack, a prescription that will save you the wasted time of diverse experience and experimentation. I hope I have added ideas to that discussion because research in myriad areas suggests that mental meandering and personal experimentation are sources of power, and head starts are overrated. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a century ago, of the free exchange of ideas,"it is an experiment as all life is an experiment." This quote is from the book Range, Why Generalists Triumph In a Specialized World, by David Epstein. Welcome to the Second Half Horsemanship podcast, where we talk about using your mind more than your muscles on the path to better horsemanship in the second half of life. I'm your host, Paul Sherland. I loved this book by David Epstein. He shows that early specializers may have an early advantage in a sport or a career, but it's often the generalist who is more successful in the long run. There are lots of early specializers in various horsemanship disciplines, and many of them end up as clinicians and authors later in their careers. I'm not saying we should ignore them, but I am saying that Epstein's research shows that we can study them and take the principles and ideas that we find most useful and combine them with other ideas from other horsemen and horse women. By experimenting with a broad range of ideas, from diverse sources of information, we can progress on the path to better horsemanship in the second half of. Remember that research shows that careers that require large stocks of knowledge and the wisdom to apply it to problems are careers using crystallized intelligence. And crystallized intelligence increases through middle and late adulthood. Unlike the fluid intelligence of the first half of life, our crystallized intelligence will decline late in life, if ever. This research is described in the book from Strength to Strength, Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Dr. Arthur C. Brooks. So the crystallized intelligence we have in the second half of life makes us well equipped to take the most relevant and valuable ideas from diverse schools of horsemanship, and from other areas of knowledge, and apply them to improve our horses and ourselves. I hope you can experiment with a broad range of horsemanship ideas. I hope you are willing to learn and adjust as you travel the path to better horsemanship in the second half of life. Thanks for listening to the Second Half Horsemanship podcast. If you're also on the second half horsemanship journey, please leave a comment on our website, second half horsemanship.com. We're always looking for topic and interview ideas. When I use links to books, products, and services in the podcast, some of those links might be referral links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, I earn a small commission when you purchase something through those links, but you will not be charged more by using the links. One more note. I use Descript for editing the podcast. If you do any video or audio editing, you should check out what Descript offers. It's an incredible tool for creatives. I'll also have a link to Descript in the show notes. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your reviews help the podcast reach a larger audience. Thank you very much.