The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft. If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average verbal ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar biographical traits. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same ethnic background, or, shared the same birthday.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would give her some idea of a fascinating circle she might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’d be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly perceive its inner workings.
Then she would practice writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practicing in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance from the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems—how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.
The primary trait she possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine. The latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behavior.

The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft. If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average verbal ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar biographical traits. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same ethnic background, or, shared the same birthday.
最新的研究令我们对世界的看法呈现出更加平淡、更加大众，更加严谨的色彩。区分天才和小有成就者之间的关键不是靠灵光闪现的暗示，也无关智商高低的天赋，而且智商对人的未来成功与否的预测普遍糟糕，即使在围棋王国中也不例外。恰恰相反，天才是深谋远虑从容训练的结果。顶尖演奏家会多花些时间（非常多的时间）来严酷地练习其技能。如果你要想象一个典型的天才是怎样成长起来的，你可以选一个语言表达能力略高于同龄平均水平的女孩。并不需要她是一个才高八斗的能人，她也许会给人一种与众不同的优越感，这就够了。然后，你要安排她去造访，比方说，一个小说家，这个小说家非常巧合地与女孩拥有一些类似的人生阅历方面的特資。也许他们来自同一座城市，具有相同的种族背景，或者他们同一天出生。
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would give her some idea of a fascinating circle she might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’d be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly perceive its inner workings.
这种接触会让这个女孩憧憬自己的未来，也会让她对自己或许会在某一天加入一个令她神往的小圈子产生某些遐想。如果她的其中一个双亲在她12岁时去世，这种接触会促使她产生强烈的不安全感，并且激起她义无反顾迫切想要一举成功的欲望。身怀这种抱负，她会不停地读小说以及文学传记。这会让她对自己所从事领域有一个基本的了解。她能从更深的层面中来审视新的写作，并且能迅速地感受到作品的内在脉络。
Then she would practice writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practicing in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance from the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems—how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems. 之后，她会开始练习写作。她的练习将会是一个缓慢、艰辛又关注错误的过程。通过这种方式的练习，她将这种机械的节奏放慢了下来。她此时的思维会有意识地将新学的技能转变为一种无意识的、自动执行的技能。通过缓慢地练习，将这些技能分解开来，并加以反复训练，她会迫使自己的大脑将一个更好的行为模式内在化。然后，她会找到一个导师，为她提供连续不断的反馈意见，从而在外部来审视她的表现，纠正其最细微的错误，并迫使她接受更大的挑战。如今，她正在一遍又一遍地反复处理这些问题：“我如何才能将各种人物纳入到一个情节空间中”。她正在建立自己的思维习惯，从而理解或解决未来的问题。
The primary trait she possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine. The latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behavior.

她所具备的基本特质并不是某种神秘的天赋，而是能够形成一套有目的、够勤奋、令人烦的练习规程。
最新的研究剔除了伟大成就中的神奇东西。然而，它强调了一个经常被人忽视的事实。公众的舆论受到基因遗传以及与生俱来的固有东西所影响。基因束缚了我们的能力也是事实。但是大脑也具有相当的可塑性。我们通过行为来塑造自己。