The 10,000-Hour Rule, Revisited

The 10,000-hour rule is often taken to mean that mastery requires ten thousand hours of training. It grew out of a 1993 study by K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe and Clemens Tesch-Römer on deliberate practice. The study compared groups of musicians and did not establish a universal threshold for expertise.

What the 10,000-Hour Rule Promised

In its popular form, the rule put effort at the center of the story. It encouraged readers to choose a goal and keep working toward it even when progress felt slow.

Lee Sang-hun wrote a Korean book on the idea, titled The 10,000-Hour Rule.

When the Rule Began to Lose Its Appeal

There was a time when exhortations about effort went largely unquestioned. Then the “back in my day” attitude of the condescending elder, or kkondae, became a target of parody in Korea. Online jokes stretched out the word for effort as if repeating it could solve everything. The rule began to sound like part of that older advice.

Ten Thousand Hours and Still Silver?

A screenshot made the rounds online under the joke that someone had put ten thousand hours into League of Legends and was still in Silver.

One post described a player logging 9,998 hours and reaching Gold. Another example was a Korean player known as Uryeobi, who was reported to have played 9,580 hours and remained in Silver. The joke worked because the hours and the rank seemed to tell different stories.

Time Alone Tells You Little

The book asks you to find something you like and something you can do well before you commit time to it.

Repeating an activity for a long time gives little assurance of progress, especially if the work gives you few chances to improve or you have no wish to improve at it.

Interest, Aptitude and Effort

The idea in the book is that becoming good at something takes time and effort, and that both are easier to sustain in an area you care about and can learn to do well.

The book had been out for years when I saw the Silver meme. It made me curious enough to go back and see what Lee had actually written.

The Value of Working at Something

Effort can sound like the advice of someone who thinks your circumstances are exactly the same as theirs. I still find something admirable in working toward a goal you chose for yourself.

Korean arguments about “passion pay,” the practice of using someone’s enthusiasm to justify poor pay, help explain the backlash. Practicing for a purpose of your own is a different experience.

Book Information

The 10,000-Hour Rule

Author

Lee Sang-hun

Publication date

25 February 2010

ISBN13

9788960862371

View book on YES24

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