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Summary of Beginners 

4.2 . 391 reviews

Short summary

Many people stop learning new skills as adults due to varying reasons such as the fear of failure and the illusion that the sheer pleasure of learning is only for young. Tom Vanderbilt begins a year of learning majorly for the sake of learning. In tackling some major skills, he reveals how anyone can begin again and why they should take those first uneasy steps. Tom Vanderbilt has written for several publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Popular Science, Financial Times, Smithsonian, and London Review of Books, among lots more. He is an editor of Wired UK, Outside, and Artforum. In “Beginners,” he shares how a new sense of novelty opened him up to happiness, and a better connection to the people around him and how beginning at any age can make life appear magical. Keep reading this summary to find out the power of being a beginner regardless of your age or status. “A man ceases to be a beginner in any given science and becomes a master in that science when he has learned that…he is going to be a beginner all his life.” ~ Robin Collingwood

Table of content

  • Summary of Beginners
  • About the author
  • What is Beginners about?
  • Who should read Beginners
  • Topics in Beginners
first key point

The joy and pain of starting out

Listen the first key point
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No one is born a master. We are all, at one time or another, beginners. Being a beginner is hard. Beginners make the same mistakes; they fall and get hurt. But it can be a wonderful thing; the world around you appears new as you plunge into learning some art or skill. Being a beginner means undertaking a journey of not knowing. However, as you learn new things, you will learn new things about yourself.

For most people, the beginner stage is to be gotten through as quickly as possible. But attention should be paid to such a starting stage because once it goes, it’s hard to get back.

Being a beginner gets harder as you get older. For children, it’s practically their job to be beginners. Their brains and bodies are built for doing, failing, and doing again. We applaud almost anything they do because they are trying. But it’s more complicated with adults. “Adult beginner” implies the learning of something that you should have perhaps already learned. Adult beginners are faced with a stereotype threat that says it’s harder to learn when you’re older. But harder does not mean impossible. Kids often make more progress simply because they are kids, with lives built largely around learning, having few other responsibilities, and with eager parents to cheer them on. They are also motivated. If you were dropped into an entirely new setting, the way infants are, and realized that you couldn’t communicate, you’d probably learn very fast.
Beginning is about small acts of reinvention, at any age, that can make life seem magical. It’s about learning new things, one of which might be you.
second key point

You’re never too old to be a beginner

In Vanderbilt's quest to acquire skills, he mapped some criteria out. First of all, he had to be a beginner in the activity. Secondly, they had to be things he could learn in New York City. Furthermore, the skills should not be too hard or time-consuming. He wanted to take up a small number of skills, things he could grow into slowly that were substantial.
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third key point

What infants can teach about being good beginners

fourth key point

Unlearning and learning how to sing

fifth key point

The power of singing together

sixth key point

The pain and the ecstasy of the advanced beginner

seventh key point

The art of keeping things in the air

eighth key point

Why we can't draw what we see

ninth key point

You are never too old or too young to learn

tenth key point

Conclusion

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What is Beginners about?

Who should read Beginners

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Do you find yourself staring at your computer for long minutes, unaware of time slipping by? Do you enter a room and suddenly cannot remember why you stepped in the first place? Is it a herculean task for you to sit through ten pages of a book without reaching for your phone? If yes, your focus needs some work and fast.

Actually, yours is not a unique situation. Many adults like you have issues concentrating on a given task. However, in this fast-paced world of ours, you can’t afford to be not focused at all times. Thankfully, this article comes to your rescue! With the tips and tricks from Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey, you will get in the top percent of folks who have mastered the art of concentration.