Brut McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

When you were a kid, you only went to school where you did academics, art and feed, but

you probably also took extra curricular lessons and music or sports, and likely even tie

yourself things like how to do magic tricks.

At least that's what I did.

Now that you're an adult, can you think of the last new skill you learn?

My guest explains why there's a good chance that you'll struggle to answer that question

and how that's a tragedy you ought to do something about.

His name is Tom Vanderbilt and he's the author several books including his latest, Beginners,

The Joy and Transformative Power of Life-Long Learning.

Tom and I discuss why his daughter's desire to learn chess inspired him to spend a year

learning the game himself, as well as take on a project of learning other new skills.

Tom explains the reasons adults give up on learning and why while it's harder for adults

to learn things than it is for children, it's still worth becoming an novice all over

again.

We then explore how to harness the beginner's mind using Tom's experiences and learning

how to sing, surf, juggle, and draw as examples.

And we enter conversation with Tom's takeaways from his experiment and how becoming a lifelong

learner is really all about pushing through the mental barriers that hold us back for

the many possibilities for growth that remain in adulthood.

After the show's over, check out our show notes at aam.ias slash lifelong learning.

Tom Vanderbilt, welcome to the show.

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