tcsned wrote:lol - though I don't think you're getting dumber - just more aware and able to see the forest through the trees.
At work, we describe people this way:
Stage 1: new to the subject, learning fast, eager to learn more. Will probably willingly admit to being a beginner.
Stage 2: Been around a little while and learned a lot, but does not yet have a grasp of the breadth and depth of the subject matter, said another way, they don't know what it is that they don't know.
Stage 3: Been around a while, good grasp of what the breadth and depth of the topic is, but doesn't yet know enough to be truly competent in any one area.
Stage 4: Achieved competence in one or more small areas, knows enough to be able to plan their own development going forward.
Stage 5: Competent in several areas, good resource for others.
As far as guitar playing, I would guess I am still pretty firmly rooted in stage 2. I have been getting dumber because I am not only learning more about playing, but also figuring out the breadth and depth of the subject. In other words, I am learning a lot of what it is that I don't know. Stage 2 is often called "the dangerous phase". In my other hobby, classic cars, it is all too often Stage 2 folks who make big money mistakes, or worse, drop a car on themselves or light themselves on fire. It's usually stage 4, or at least on the verge of it, before people feel like they are getting smarter.
Anyway, back to the topic of 10,000 hours: I think there are lots of things that no one "masters" in 10,000 hours. That would be 5 years of working full-time on something, which doesn't sound like enough if you are a physicist or something like that. There is no question in my mind that with something like guitar, you would have to put in some number of thousands of hours before you would have any informed view of what your potential even is, which might be more what the guideline is about, but I think it would take decades to fully realize that potential. Of course, we should keep in mind that that is coming from someone who just admitted to being stage 2 on the topic
Mama Mama many worlds I've come since I first left home.