Mastery (67 page)

Sforza, Francesco, statue of, 23–24

sfumato,
292

Shakespeare, William, 175, 183

Shawn, Ted, 224–26

Shoju Rojin, as Hakuin’s mentor, 113–15

shortcuts, ineffectiveness of, 9, 13–14, 61, 90

Silsbee, Joseph Lyman, 109

“Silver Blaze” (Doyle), 194

Sistine Chapel, 23, 24

skepticism, 102

and speculation, 189

skills:

automatic, 288

basic principles of, 60

hardwiring of, 61–62, 77

intellectual vs. manual, 64

internalization of, 3, 8

Skills Acquisition (The Practice Mode), 56, 58–62

smell, sense of, 198

social intelligence, 6, 7, 15, 71, 125–65

autism and, 43–45, 156–58

detached observation in, 130–31, 136, 137

discarding the Naïve Perspective in, 135–38

effective strategy for, 149–52

as expressed through work, 152

four strategies for acquiring, 146–64

keys to mastery of, 133–46

manipulation in, 132–33, 159–64

overcoming naïveté in, 129–31, 135–38

persona as key element of, 152–55

poor strategy for, 147–49, 151

in presentation of work, 147–52

Seven Deadly Realities as impediments to, 141–46

supreme acceptance of human nature in, 130–31, 136–37

thinking inside others as key to, 8, 127–33, 136

two components of, 137–38

social signs:

interpretation of, 8, 137–40, 250

misreading of, 7, 129–30, 135, 156

Socrates, daemon of, 25

Sorrows of Young Werther, The
(Goethe), 160, 305–6, 308–9

Sound of Music, The,
208

specific knowledge, 137–40

speculation, and the Current, 189

speed:

instinct and, 262

“velocipedic age” of, 308

spider metaphor, 255, 273

squeeze chute, 44, 280

Stacked Waters
(Fernández), 244

Sternberg, Josef von, 160–61

Stockade Building System, 41–42

Stoicism, 268

strengths, in achieving mastery, 274–84

Strindberg, August, purported madness of, 245–246

structure, parts vs. whole in, 83, 192–93

“Suffer Fools Gladly,” 164

suffering, learning through, 113–16

suicide:

contemplation of, 41–42

romantic, 306

Sullivan, Louis, Wright mentored by, 109

Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), 72, 298

superiority, as impediment, 73–74, 299, 302

Swann’s Way
(Proust), 254

Swiss Patent Office, 66

synesthesia, 198–99

synthesis, 304–9

tacit knowledge, 59, 61–62

Taoism, 258

Tatum, John, 97

technical lock, 230–31

technology:

apprenticeship in age of, 63–64

computer, 87–90, 222, 231–36

vs. creative thinking, 212, 219, 222, 273

of flight, 217–19

as ineffective shortcut, 9, 13

startups, 233–35

Stone Age, 270

tedium:

challenges fueled by, 62

embracing of, 60

passing beyond, 77–78

telegraph, 185–86

tension, value of, 201

Tesla, Nikola, as visual thinker, 197

Thierry, Augustin, 249–50, 251

thinking:

creative, 52–56, 62

higher way of, 77, 256–62

inward vs. outward, 139–40

thinking inside, 8, 127–33, 136, 146

Thoth, 240

thought experiments, 275

Thuthmose, pharaoh of Egypt, 240

tics, 295

time:

absolute, 274

for animals, 9

as critical factor in mastery, 9, 259–60, 264, 269

human relationship to, 8–10

as magic ingredient in skill development, 77–78

slaves to, 9

toolmaking, 6, 8, 9, 214

torso, in dance, 226

tough love, 116

transformation:

of creative process, 242–43

to creative thinking, 54–56

of Darwin, 53–54

first, 49–54

as goal of Apprenticeship Phase, 55, 64

through intellect, 15

overcoming limitations to, 156–58

through practice, 61–62, 285–89

second, 169–75

through social intelligence, 127–33, 136

third, 247–55

through work, 153

trial and error, 87–90

trust:

in Creative Task, 179

in learning process, 75–78

in social interaction, 138

ultimate reality, 267–69

unconventionality, 180

Underhill, Craig “Mole,” 286–87

uniqueness, 11–12

in Life’s Task, 25–29, 311

Universal Grammar, 301–2

Universal Man/Woman, 268

in achieving mastery, 304–9

defined, 309

Unix, 232

upright stance, 6

Vance Air Force Base, 75

vandalization, 293

Vasari, Giorgio, 292–93

Verrocchio, Andrea del, 22, 63, 290

Viaweb, 88–89, 233, 234

vicarious sensation, 7–8

Vienna, University of, 147

vision, achieving mastery through widening of, 294–98

visualization, 157, 216

in creative thinking, 197–98, 227

of parts and whole, 83

visual prowess, development of, 6–7

visual thinking, 197–98, 274, 281, 284

vitamin, C, 194

vocation, 25, 27

see also
Life’s Task

Wagner, Richard, Creative Breakthrough of, 200–201

warfare, seeing more in, 257–59

War of Independence, 133

Watson, James D., 197–98

Watts, Isaac, 96–97, 104

Way (Tao), 91, 256, 258, 268

weaknesses, practice to overcome, 81

web applications, 232–33

Weimar, court of, 159–60, 306

Weimar, duke of, 306

whale, as architectural model, 221

Wheeler, Wheels, 76

Windows, 232–33

Wollaston, William Hyde, 100–101

women, in Leonardo’s art, 292–93

World War I, 41, 254, 255

World War II, 298

Wright, Frank Lloyd, mentoring of, 109

Wright, Orville, mechanical intelligence of, 215–18

Wright, Wilber:

mechanical intelligence of, 215–19

visualization skills of, 216

X factor, 269–70

X-rays, 185, 290

Yahoo!, 88, 233

Y Combinator, 89, 164, 235

Young, Thomas, 237–38, 241–42

Zen Buddhism, 113–15, 201

Zenji, Hakuin, 15, 90–91, 112–15, 266