Skill Dynamics

There seems to be an invariant dynamic to people's acquisition of skills, be it piano playing, tennis or digging graves. It can be conceptualized to such stages:

1. Study 
2. Evaluation 
3. Competition 
4. Mastery 

1. Study

It is the beginning, the initial exposure and development of fascination either by need or attraction. In this stage people get to know the ropes, learn the basics, are explained the theory and showed some practice. Teacher is a role-model, strong student-teacher relationship.

2. Evaluation 

Once a person is starting to become confident with his skills, he is inevitably drawn to see whether this confidence is well-founded; he is eager to see how his skills look among other people's. At this point other students become an important part of the learning process by providing their unique learning-stories and perspectives on both failure and success. Teacher slowly becomes merely a fellow student. 

3. Competition 

Once a student sees that his skills rank well against other's competition follows. It serves several goals. First, competition allows a student to train in a dynamic environment against others, rather than being insulated - this competitive environment pushes a student's limits and forces him to re-evaluate his skills, and to create new approaches. Second, victory serves the powerful role of positive reinforcement and stimulates a student to continue studies. Being able to show off is extremely important. Being able to compete against and, possibly, win over a former teacher is a running theme. 

4. Mastery 

Successful competitive stage slowly cools into mastery. In this stage the student knows all the theory and knows to be the best in a field. Further learning and victory can only occur within himself. Thus a master encompasses the essence of a skill and the only way for the master to advance is by advancing the skill. This usually occurs either through extra-disciplinary insights or the master's creativity. The need to win and show off diminish greatly due to the above-mentioned fusion of the master and the skill - mere aesthetics become painfully and obviously wasteful.