The Talent Code

Lesson 1. Introduction.

In a world full of very different kinds of people, we are often led to believe that some of them are ‘designed’ to be better than the rest, at certain things. The most credit for having a talent is given to a person’s genes. Daniel Coyle, however, did not buy into this, unlike most of the people. He went out of his way to research about the subject, and did indeed find results that will pique your curiosity. 

In the late 1900s, the technology wasn’t as advanced and resourceful as it is today and hence led us to believe that a skill was a black box. A skill was best explained as genetic, as there seemed to be no evidence that it was actually development of tissues in the brain. Since then, scientists have come a long way, and have developed a deep understanding of a certain tissue in our brain - Myelin. It was thought to be of much less importance than it was later found to be. 

The author visited places all around the world. Places that were home to sudden uprisings of the very best of talent the world had ever seen. He met people with extraordinary skills and studied them. He met scientists who’ve dedicated their lives to myelin research. He comprehended what ‘talent’ or ‘skill’ truly is. He seems to have cracked the code of talent.

Three main aspects of life decide how much “talented” a person becomes. Genetics is not one of them. The author likes to call them “Ignition”, “Deep practice”, and “Master Coaching”. We’ll see each one in detail in the coming chapters.

Lesson 2. Myelin.

Myelin is an insulating layer that covers the nervous axons, like a plastic or rubber layer around an electric wire. Myelin plays a significant role in explaining how a skill is developed in a human brain. It gives a physical representation of the growth of a skill. When a certain action is to be performed by any part of the body, the brain sends signals through the neurons. These neurons are connected by axons. Axons are like wires. Myelin was thought to be just a protective layer until it was observed more closely.

The thickness of myelin of more skilled people was found to be more than less skilled ones. It was also studied that the thickness of myelin is variable. It can be changed. The more the certain neurons were fired, the more the myelin layer wrapped around the axon. The more was the wrapping of myelin, the faster was the transmission of neural