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Beginners summary

Name: Beginners
Rating: 4.6 (241 reviews)
Author: Tom Vanderbilt

Tom Vanderbilt

The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning

4.6 (241 ratings)

21 mins

Table of Contents

Beginners
summarized in 7 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? A scientific look at starting fresh.

Each of us is born into the world with lots of potential but very few skills. So it’s only natural that the first years of our lives are dedicated to learning. We learn to walk, talk, and even eat. Then, we spend more than a decade honing our talents in school. And then what?

For many of us, the drive to pick up new skills wanes in adulthood. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Learning could be a journey that lasts a lifetime.

Journalist Tom Vanderbilt made it a personal quest to reignite his long-lost love of always learning something new. These blinks draw on his experience. They mix insights from the fields of psychology and neuroscience to explore how people develop new skills later in life. Along the way, they demonstrate the benefits of always remaining a beginner.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why scientists love juggling;
what separates a novice from an advanced beginner; and
how a 70-year-old learned to swim in the mountains.

Life-long learning keeps your mind engaged, whatever your age.

Tom Vanderbilt had a steady career as a journalist. But when his daughter was born, he quickly discovered that he now had a second job. He became a teacher.

As Vanderbilt found, when you’re a parent, you’re always teaching your children new skills. First come the basics, like walking and talking. And, as they grow, you move on to more complex tasks, like riding a bike, cooking, and navigating social situations.

As Vanderbilt taught his daughter all these essential skills, he realized something about himself: he hadn’t learned a new skill in years. So, he decided to change that. He challenged himself to learn a few completely new things, including chess and surfing. Vanderbilt soon understood that being a beginner again came with lots of benefits.

The key message here is: Life-long learning keeps your mind engaged, whatever your age.

We never really stop learning. Even minor activities like reading the news or watching television give our brains new information. However, this form of learning merely gives us declarative knowledge: facts, figures, even trivia. But not all knowledge is like that. There’s another kind, one which the author calls procedural knowledge. It helps us actually do something: speak a language, play an instrument, or execute a technical skill.

As we grow older, we tend to learn fewer and fewer procedural things. But there was a time when every one of us was great at gaining new procedural knowledge. That time was childhood.

Kids see the world with fresh eyes. They bring no preconceived notions to new activities – and this means that there’s nothing to hold them back.

Another important thing is that society doesn’t expect children to be experts at anything. This makes kids far less worried about failure or appearing clumsy. And then, finally, their brains are simply wired to learn. The average seven-year-old has 30 percent more neurons available for soaking up new information than the average adult.

However, while adult brains are, perhaps, less nimble, they still retain plasticity. This term refers to our ability to change and learn. In fact, continuing to learn new skills as you age is fantastic for your mental health. Studies have found that when older adults practice new skills – like painting or writing music – they also improve in general cognitive tests.

Even if you only focus on mastering one new activity, you’ll still open up your brain to more learning in the future. We’ll explore one new skill, singing, in the next blink.

Singing is a skill that can be learned with practice.

When was the last time you sang? Did you do a little crooning this morning in the shower? Or, perhaps you hummed along to the radio while driving to work. Maybe you’ve recently belted out a pop classic at a karaoke bar.

It seems that humans are just wired to sing. However, most of us don’t feel confident about our vocal abilities. In fact, when scientists at the University of California wanted to study embarrassment, they asked people to perform the doo-wop hit “My Girl.”

Developing new skills works best as a social practice.

Walk through Manhattan’s Lower East Side on a Monday night, and you might hear something strange. It will start softly, but, as you stroll down Rivington Street, the sound will become louder and louder. When you reach the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, all will become clear. What you’re hearing is 50 people belting out the 1995 Oasis classic “Wonderwall.”

Meet the Britpop Choir. They’re an amiable pack of amateur vocalists, and they gather each week to sing songs that used to top the UK’s charts. Together, they work through yesterday’s hits from artists like Blur, Pulp, and David Bowie.

Learning the basic rules is just the first step in a long journey.

Imagine yourself out at the beach bobbing in the water just offshore. You’ve been taking surfing lessons all week, and now, after hours of practice, you’re starting to feel more confident. So, as the next wave comes, you spring into action.

First, you paddle along the growing swell. Next, you train your eyes on the shore and steady your body. And finally, as the wave crests, you push down and pop yourself into a crouch. For a moment it all goes as planned. Then, suddenly, you come toppling down into the water.

To master a skill, practice it until the movements become automatic.

Let’s say you’re riding your bike down the street, and suddenly, a ball bounces into your path. To avoid a disastrous collision, you need to turn left. Sounds easy: after all, all you have to do is turn the handlebars.

Well, not exactly. Before you jerk your wheel to the left, you must lean your body to the right. This subtle movement redistributes your weight and keeps you balanced. Of course, as a skilled cyclist, you’ll do this automatically.

Learning to draw is all about learning how to see the world with fresh eyes.

In 2017, Google released a list of the most popular searches which began with the phrase how to… Topping the list was how to tie a tie, followed by other practical queries such as how to write a cover letter, and how to lose weight.

Curiously, fifth on the list was something a little more whimsical. A lot of people searched for how to draw. Now, drawing is one of the first activities we pick up as children. Nearly every kindergarten offers kids crayons and markers.

It’s never too late to try something new.

Meet Patricia. She’s lived a rich life which included a successful career working in French new wave cinema. After retirement, she moved to the rustic mountain town of Chamonix to ski, play tennis, and relax. Then, at age 70, she wanted something more. She wanted to swim.

Now, Patrica was a pack-a-day smoker who’d never swum before. But she was determined. Unable to find a local instructor, she watched tutorials on YouTube. Each night she would pace her apartment practicing strokes. Each morning, she would head to the pool to test her progress.

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What is Beginners about?

Beginners (2021) is a light-hearted study of the joys of life-long learning. Part personal story and part scientific primer, it demonstrates the benefits of always trying something new.

Best quote from Beginners

You may also be thinking, Its too late. Nonsense

—Tom Vanderbilt

Who should read Beginners?

Middle-aged folks trapped in the same routines
Seniors seeking ways to stay sharp
Anyone eager for a little inspiration to never stop learning

About the Author

Tom Vanderbilt is a prolific author with works appearing in The New York Times Magazine, Popular Science, Smithsonian, and London Review of Books. He is the author of best-selling non-fiction titles such as You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), and Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America.

Beginners summary

Beginners summarized in 7 key ideas

What’s in it for me? A scientific look at starting fresh.

Life-long learning keeps your mind engaged, whatever your age.

Singing is a skill that can be learned with practice.

Developing new skills works best as a social practice.

Learning the basic rules is just the first step in a long journey.

To master a skill, practice it until the movements become automatic.

Learning to draw is all about learning how to see the world with fresh eyes.

It’s never too late to try something new.

Key ideas in Beginners

Introduction

Life-long learning keeps your mind engaged, whatever your age.

Singing is a skill that can be learned with practice.

Developing new skills works best as a social practice.

Learning the basic rules is just the first step in a long journey.

To master a skill, practice it until the movements become automatic.

Learning to draw is all about learning how to see the world with fresh eyes.

It’s never too late to try something new.

What is Beginners about?

Best quote from Beginners

Who should read Beginners?

About the Author

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Beginners
summarized in 7 key ideas