In his influential paper ‘What Is It Like to Be a Bat?’, the philosopher Thomas Nagel explored the difficulty of describing and explainng the subjective experience of other entities. Specifically, he asserted that subjective experience of each being is unique, and in many important ways, fundamentally unknowable to others.

Exploring a similar theme in the context of learning and skill aquistion, I have pointed out that every learner’s subjective experience of practicing a given skill changes dynamically as they move from being a novice to having some expertise. And, just as Nagel argued that we can’t truly know what it’s like to be a bat, I argued that our subjective experience of what it will be like to practice a given skill is, to a significant degree, inscrutable even to ourselves until we have gained a certain level of proficiency.

This post will further explore the implications of this idea and how we can define what I call the ‘what it’s like moment’ in skill acquisition. By ‘what it’s like moment’ I mean to describe the point at which you have become skilled enough to confidently make judgments about what it will be like to practice a given skill going forward.

Consider this scenario: if you are just a few hours into learning to play the piano, you haven’t yet crossed the ‘what it’s like moment’. The reason being, the subjective feelings during those initial hours are not reflective of the experience of playing the piano once you’ve developed a considerable level of proficiency.

I believe that this ‘what it’s like moment’ exists because while skill-level does change the subjective experience of things – that while being a master is different then being a mere practitioner – it does not do so indefinitely. The subjective experience practicing a skill is dynamic, especially at the beginning, but is not random, and we do acquire knowledge of ‘what things are like’ as we gain expertise. This is why it is possible to get a sense of what things are like before completely mastering them. 

If we take this as true, the inevitable question that arises is, “how much skill do we need to obtain before we get to this ‘what it’s like’ moment?” I’ll try to answer this. But first, let’s examine how identifying and learning up to the ‘what it’s like moment’ can help us in our pursuits and careers.

Benefits of learning to the ‘what it’s like’ moment 

Here, I hope to convince you that determining the ‘what it’s like moment’ for skill acquisition isn’t some esoteric, academic notion. It’s a practical pivot point that has the potential to dramatically reshape the bounds of our careers and personal expression. With that in mind, let’s unpack how it can help us make better better decisions: 

Optimal Skill Switching: Understanding when we’ve sufficiently experienced a skill can prevent us from prematurely abandoning it. Many of us, myself included, often switch skills before we’ve gained enough knowledge to make an informed decision about their suitability for us. The ‘what it’s like moment’ provides a practical rule of thumb for how much time and effort we should expect to put in before we’ve given things a fair go, and can serve as a valuable litmus test, guiding us on when to persist and when to pivot.

Overcoming the Dip: Bestselling author Seth Godin, in his book “The Dip,” talks about the importance of pushing through the tough times in any worthwhile endeavor. More specifically, Godin addresses the rewards we can achieve by becoming uniquely skilled at things in a hyper connected world. Cultivating an understanding of when we’ve genuinely experienced a skill can help us decide whether we want to continue towards the level of mastery that Godin advocates for. 

Facilitating Meta-Skill Transfer: By committing to a skill to the extent that we fully experience it, we often acquire meta-skills or ‘transferable skills’ that can be applied to other areas. This allows us to effectively compound our skillset, enhancing our versatility and increasing our overall competence.

This intuition is backed by scientific research. Specifically, the seminal work of Hermann Ebbinghaus, a 19th-century German psychologist famed for his research on memory. Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve demonstrated that memory retention declines over time in a predictable way, unless we consciously reinforce what we’ve learned. 

In other words, the deeper and more thoroughly we explore a skill, the better our chances of breaking free from Ebbinghaus’s curve and maintaining our proficiency over time. As such, an emphasis on mindful skill acquisition can provide us with a tangible, measurable edge, especially in dynamic professional fields where the ability to adapt and evolve is vital.

As I hope to have briefly demonstrated, identifying a generalized ‘’what it’s like moment’ milestone in skill acquisition is not merely an intellectual endeavour. It’s a heuristic that can guide us towards more thoughtful and ultimately rewarding skill acquisition. If specified correctly, it should serve as a signpost indicating when we will begin to truly comprehend the reality of the path we’ve chosen.

Generalizing the ‘what it’s like moment’ – Revisiting Gladwell’s 10,000 hours 

Having examined the merits of identifying a ‘what it’s like moment’, let’s now circle back to the question at hand. Exactly how proficient do we need to become before we arrive at this profound ‘what it’s like’ terrain? 

The challenge here lies in pinpointing a generalizable stage in the acquisition of any skill where we can confidently proclaim that we grasp its essence –  something akin to Malcolm Gladwell’s popular 10,000 hours rule. For those who are unfamiliar with Maclolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule, it asserts that mastery of any skill is within reach after a 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. 

Now, we could just put a number of hours on the ‘what it’s like moment’, like Gladwell does, and being conservative, ensure that we are well within the bounds of confidence. But I don’t believe that is the optimal way to approach this question. Firstly, because the ‘what it’s like’ stage can happen much faster than mastery. Additionally, the quality of practice and the natural talent of the individual also mean that a numerical figure can make any number highly misspecified – a critique frequently applied to Gladwell’s rule 

Instead, I believe that the most effective strategy for defining the ‘what it’s like moment’ is to identify both subjective milestones and qualitative attributes of the skill being practiced that demonstrate we’ve moved into an area where practice has become self-similar and we are firmly in the ‘what it’s like’ sphere of skill acquisition. 

Understanding the stages of skill acquisition – The Dreyfus & Dreyfus Model 

To answer the question in this way, it’s helpful to start with an understanding of the stages of skill acquisition. To that end, here I’ll use an academic model of skill acquisition that was created by Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus as the basis for describing the process of acquiring skill.

The Dreyfus model presents a five-stage model of skill acquisition that starts at the novice level and ends at the master level. The five stages and descriptions of their corresponding mental processes are outlined below. 

	Skill Level
Mental Function	Novice	Competent	Proficenet	Expert	Master
Recollection	Non-situational	Situational	Situational	Situational	Situational
Recognition	Decomposed	Decomposed	Holistic	Holistic	Holistic
Decisions	Analytical	Analytical	Analytical	Analytical	Analytical
Awareness	Monitoring	Monitoring	Monitoring	Monitoring	Absorbed

In the context of this model, I believe the ‘what it’s like moment’ occurs for most skills at the boundary between the competency and proficiency stage.

These are the stages where individuals begin to develop a conceptual understanding of the skill or task, which allows them to start creating plans and making decisions based on conscious, analytical reasoning and perspective. They can recognize patterns and prioritize tasks based on their importance.

In contrast to the earlier stages where actions are guided largely by predefined rules and context-free instructions, at the competent stage, individuals start to rely more on their own judgment. They can deal with complex situations but they might still need to think and deliberate about the best course of action.

“The language learner finally becomes able to combine phrases he uses into whole sentences, with subordinate clauses which enable him to describe whole situations to request, demand, order, etc. whole states of affairs. The chess player now sees aspects such as ‘unbalanced pawn structure’ as either irrelevant or crucial to some overall strategic goal, such as ‘attack or ‘play for a positional end-game advantage.”

Dreyfus and Dreyfus, A Five-Stage Model Of The Menetal Acitivites Involved In Directed Skill Aquisition

These cognitive milestones describe the point at which the learner begins to be able to take his or her eyes off of the metaphorical rulebook, to ‘look up’ for at least brief intervals and to experiment with their own ideas. In these moments the subjective experience shifts to something that is more like ‘what it’s like’ or what it will be like to engage in any given practice with a reasonable degree of skill.

“What it’s like Moment” subjective milestones 

The ‘what it’s like moment’ is marked by a number of subjective milestones that can indicate we’ve arrived at this level of skill. The first of these is the ability to perceive the ‘bigger picture’ – to see beyond isolated tasks and understand their place in the whole. Another is finding ourselves capable of problem-solving and adapting our approach in real-time. Finally, we can recognise a state of ‘self-similarity’ where we can anticipate patterns in the tasks that we perform to the extent that we can begin to experience the first blossoming of creativity and expression which I believe is the ultimate indicator of achieving stability in the subjective experience. 

Understanding the Bigger Picture: The first sign that you’ve moved into the territory of a practitioner is when you start understanding the bigger picture, not just the individual tasks or elements of the skill. You are able to see how everything fits together and affects the overall outcome.

Adaptive Confidence: You start to notice a growing sense of confidence in your ability to adapt to new or unexpected situations. This isn’t just about solving problems as they arise, but also about a subjective feeling of being prepared for uncertainty. You begin to trust in your ability to handle whatever the day might throw at you, and this self-assuredness can be a powerful sign that you’re moving into a stable subjective experience. You are not just following set procedures but are able to change your approach depending on the situation, and you do so with an inherent confidence.

Self-Similarity: This is when you start to see patterns in the subjective experiences of performing the tasks or goals that require the skill. Tasks may start to look similar and your previous experience can inform your approach to new tasks. This leads to a level of comfort and familiarity with the skill that allows for creativity and expression. 

Creativity and Expression: A clear signal that you’ve accumulated enough skill to grasp ‘What it’s like’ is that you are beginning to express yourself within the broader context of the skill. The confidence to employ creative freedom and go beyond basic rules and guidelines to innovate and experiment is a reliable indicator that you have begun to have a holistic perspective. The emergence of improvisation, and the capacity to change directions with a clear grasp of the associated risks and rewards, are signs that you are not just performing the skill but experiencing it holistically and consistently.

‘What it’s like” objective milestones 

One confounding issue that can trip up learners in identifying the ‘what it’s like moment’  is that as we improve, what we consider comptent can become a moving target. What we see as ‘high-level’ at the start of our journey can quickly become merely average once we gain the foundational level of skill. As the Arabic proverb states, the deeper you go, the deeper the ocean gets.  

This is why supplementing our personal benchmarks with tangible metrics can be advantageous. In this segment, I’ll provide several more objective milestones to compliment the subjective indicators detailed in the preceding section.

Reduced Reliance on Reference Materials or Guides: When a learner no longer needs to consistently refer to instructional materials or guides, they may have reached the ‘what it’s like’ moment. This could indicate that they have internalized the skill.

Recognising Multiple Approaches: Can you automatically think of multiple approaches and/or potential solutions to common problems? 

Ability to Teach the Skill: One key milestone might be when a learner feels confident enough in their understanding of the skill to teach it to others. Being able to explain a concept or process to someone else often indicates a deeper level of understanding.

Initiation of Skill Enhancement: When the learner starts seeking ways to enhance their skill – looking for advanced techniques, methods or tools related to the skill – this could be an indication of the ‘what it’s like’ moment.

The journey of skill acquisition is a complex undertaking in which our perspective on competence can change rapidly. Thus the ‘what it’s like’ moment is a can be difficult to discern. Yet, recognizing the ‘what it’s like moment’, though nuanced and often elusive, can be significantly facilitated by this blend of subjective experiences and objective metrics. With these markers in our compass, we’re better equipped to identify when we’ve stepped into the terrain of ‘what it’s like’.

Putting a number on it – the 1,000 hours rule 

So far I have avoided assigning a numerical value to the ‘what it’s like moment’, favoring subjective and objective skill milestones instead. Nevertheless, I cannot overlook the fact that numbers offer an attractive intuitive reference point, a mental anchor if you will. 

As a basis for determining an approximate hours range for the ‘what it’s like moment’, I turn to the world of language learning, as I believe it serves as an effective example for discerning the ‘what it’s like’ juncture, given the universal nature of this skill. 

The language concept of ‘conversational fluency’ – as defined below – fits nicely here, representing the stage at which most skills start yielding a consistent, functional and creative experience.

Wikipedia defines native fluency and conversational fluency for language learning in the below paragraph:

“Language proficiency or linguistic proficiency is the ability of an individual to speak or perform in a language. As a framework for understanding proficiency, speakers who demonstrate both accuracy and fluency, and employ a diversity of discourse strategies are considered proficient… Native-level fluency is estimated to require the mastery of between 20,000 and 40,000 words, but basic conversational fluency might only require 3,000 words.”

Wikipedia, Conversational Fluency

As the above excerpt highlights, achieving native-level fluency necessitates the command over 20,000 to 40,000 words – a level of expertise we can consider analogous to Gladwell’s definition of mastery.

Conversational fluency which I take to be roughly analogous to the Proficiency level in the Drefyus skill model, is estimated to require 3,000 words. Using this scale, and conversational fluency as a rough analogue for the ‘what it’s like moment’, we get 1,000 hours as an estimate or roughly 10% of the time required for mastery. 

With this perspective, I propose that the ‘what it’s like moment’ in skill acquisition typically manifests after about 1,000 hours of deliberate practice. However, this benchmark could range anywhere from 100 to 1,000 hours, thus enveloping a broad confidence interval.

The success investment and expression dividend

For me, the beauty of the ‘what it’s like moment’ lies in its power to help us from deceiving ourselves. To paraphrase the psychologist John Astin, our clever use of language can often seduce us into believing we know how things will be before we even know what things are. This obscures the reality that learning a skill is not merely a matter of getting familiar with the terrain, or ‘growing to like it’ over time, but is instead a practice that entails a metamorphosis of our experience as we journey through the stages of skill acquisition. 

The other crucial takeaway is the reinforcement of the virtues of a methodical approach to engaging with new skills. Given the variety of things we could learn, it’s easy to be drawn towards a more casual learning approach, picking up interests that pique our curiosity and inclination. Yet, the concept of the ‘what it’s like moment’ reinforces the case that a concentrated approach is likely to reap many more benefits. 

Instead of just trying things ad libitum, it suggests that specific milestones, clearly envisioned and ardently pursued, can help guide our efforts and bring us more quickly to that elusive moment of subjective stability. So as we approach any skill, it’s worth considering whether we are willing to invest the required hours to achieve the ‘what it’s like moment’ — that point where we begin to stabilize our understanding of how it is and will be. 

A final noteworthy benefit of learning using the ‘what it’s like moment’ heuristic is how it can facilitate greater creative expression both through its emphasis on conversational fluency and meta skill transfer. 

Often, in our hyper-productive society, we are driven to learn for the sake of tangible returns — to earn more money, to achieve status. But most often the most profound value of learning is recognised in the new dimensions of self-expression our skills unfurl, and the unique understanding of the world they allow us to articulate. 

I believe that an awareness of the ‘what it’s like moment’ in planning our learning journeys can help us make more mindful decisions about when to persist and when to let go, and in doing so help us extract the greatest degrees of expression and fulfillment from our limited time and attention.