Talent Code

I got skeptical about the book when reading the introduction, which mentioned “revolutionary scientific discoveries”. Unfortunately, reading it confirmed my first impression: I was looking for concepts, but I found very few of them and instead a gazillion of stories to support them.

In a nutshell:

- the quality of a skill is determined by the thickness of a neural insulator called myelin around the nerve fibers in the brain circuits
- myelin wraps but doesn't unwrap, which is why to break bad habits we have to form good ones instead
- deep practice creates new myelin layers, improving the skill
- motivation can be ignited using cues
- great masters have deep knowledge, recognize where they pupils are struggling and are able to guide them