HERE'S AN OVERSIMPLIFIED EXAMPLE. EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI SUCH AS SPORTS OR BOOKS MAY LEAD ONE SIBLING DOWN THE PATH OF ATHLETICS AND ANOTHER DOWN THE PATH OF ACADEMICS DEPENDING ON THE GENETIC TRAITS THAT EACH CHILD RANDOMLY INHERITED FROM THEIR PARENTS. SO IF ONE SIBLING INHERITED GENES THAT INCLINE HIM TO BE INTERESTED IN SPORTS AND ALLOW HIM TO EXCEL AT SPORTS, WHILE THE OTHER SIBLING INHERITED GENES THAT INCLINE HIM TO BE INTERESTED IN SCHOLARLY MATTERS AND TO EXCEL AT SCHOLARLY MATTERS, THE FORMER WILL MORE PASSIONATELY PURSUE A PATH DOWN SPORTS, CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THAT'S HEAVILY SPORTS ORIENTED, WHILE THE OTHER WILL PURSUE A PATH DOWN ACADEMICS AND CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT'S MORE ACADEMIC RELATED. SO BECAUSE OF THESE GENETIC DIFFERENCES THAT ARE AMPLIFIED BY ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERIENCES, BY ADULTHOOD THESE TWO SIBLINGS MAY BE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE IN PERSONALITY, BEHAVIOR, IDEOLOGY, PERSPECTIVE, ETC. READ BELOW TO GET AN IDEA OF HOW I THINK THIS WORKS. BUT BEFORE YOU DO THAT READ THIS ARTICLE BY SUSAN PINKER. CAN YOU READ IT? CAN YOU SEE IT?
If You Don't Have The Genetically Inherited Ability, Whether That Innate Ability Is Related To Sports Or Music Or Math Or English Or What Have You, No Amount Of Practice Will Allow You To Become A Superior Performer (Expert) In Any Of The Aforementioned Fields (Athletics, Music, Math, English, Etc.)
Could Motivation and Grit Actually Be, In Part, Genetic?
Tiger Woods noted that “To this day, my dad has never asked me to go play golf. I ask him. It’s the child’s desire to play that matters, not the parent’s desire to have the child play.” Could motivation or grit actually be, in part, genetic? Can herculean will be separated from innate talent?
There has been plenty of research showing that exercise can alter the dopamine environment in your brain shown in animal models and humans. But I didn’t realize researchers who work in that area know full well that it can go in the reverse. That someone’s dopamine system and potentially variations in genes involved in dopamine systems can influence the amount of physical activity someone undertakes. And that’s done over and over again in animal models, and there is some proof of concept work for humans as well. I guess I knew this intuitively in that I know I’ve had friends and training partners some of whom really have to be managed in order to get them to train as much as they should and others who have to be managed to get them to stop training. This actually led to one of the coolest interviews in the book which was with Pam Reed one of the greatest ultra-marathoners of all time. When I interviewed her she had just finished the U.S. Nationals Iron Man triathlon in New York and the next day she was in La Guardia airport because her plane was delayed—and she told me she doesn’t feel calm unless she’s moving—and so I was interviewing her as she was running laps around the parking garage. So that’s obviously an extreme case.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2013/05/10000-hours-may-gain-you-little-if-you-have-no-talent/#.VoHDVSysQSU
Why Don't Blacks Shoot As Well As Whites? For A Long Time I Thought It Mainly Had To Do With Genes Influencing Anatomy, Physiology And Biomechanics (Whites Having A Different Anatomy And Biomechanics Than Blacks), But Now I'm Starting To Believe That It Mainly Has To Do With Personality Traits, Specifically, Conscientiousness. Whites Have Higher Conscientiousness Than Blacks. They're Less Easily Distracted And Can Focus On Tasks For Much Longer Periods Of Time Than Blacks, Which Leads To Them Spending Greater Amounts Of Time Practicing (Practicing Shooting In This Case).
Could Motivation and Grit Actually Be, In Part, Genetic?
Tiger Woods noted that “To this day, my dad has never asked me to go play golf. I ask him. It’s the child’s desire to play that matters, not the parent’s desire to have the child play.” Could motivation or grit actually be, in part, genetic? Can herculean will be separated from innate talent?
There has been plenty of research showing that exercise can alter the dopamine environment in your brain shown in animal models and humans. But I didn’t realize researchers who work in that area know full well that it can go in the reverse. That someone’s dopamine system and potentially variations in genes involved in dopamine systems can influence the amount of physical activity someone undertakes. And that’s done over and over again in animal models, and there is some proof of concept work for humans as well. I guess I knew this intuitively in that I know I’ve had friends and training partners some of whom really have to be managed in order to get them to train as much as they should and others who have to be managed to get them to stop training. This actually led to one of the coolest interviews in the book which was with Pam Reed one of the greatest ultra-marathoners of all time. When I interviewed her she had just finished the U.S. Nationals Iron Man triathlon in New York and the next day she was in La Guardia airport because her plane was delayed—and she told me she doesn’t feel calm unless she’s moving—and so I was interviewing her as she was running laps around the parking garage. So that’s obviously an extreme case.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2013/05/10000-hours-may-gain-you-little-if-you-have-no-talent/#.VoHDVSysQSU
Why Don't Blacks Shoot As Well As Whites? For A Long Time I Thought It Mainly Had To Do With Genes Influencing Anatomy, Physiology And Biomechanics (Whites Having A Different Anatomy And Biomechanics Than Blacks), But Now I'm Starting To Believe That It Mainly Has To Do With Personality Traits, Specifically, Conscientiousness. Whites Have Higher Conscientiousness Than Blacks. They're Less Easily Distracted And Can Focus On Tasks For Much Longer Periods Of Time Than Blacks, Which Leads To Them Spending Greater Amounts Of Time Practicing (Practicing Shooting In This Case).
You Have To Have The Right Genes, Then You Have To Specialize If You Want To Be Elite! (Read The Article Above!)
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT WIGGA!
http://www.biology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/Garland/Sports_Illustrated_Epstein_sports_genes_2010.pdf
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBGKc89N4q9/?taken-by=bigdave_tausha
AFTER READING DAVID EPSTEIN'S BOOK I'VE CHANGED MY MIND AND NOW AGREE WITH MY FATHER WHO ALWAYS SAID TO INTRODUCE YOUR CHILDREN TO A VARIETY OR SPORTS AND THEN ALLOW THEM TO PLAY WHATEVER SPORTS THEY ENJOY PLAYING, WHICH IS WHAT DAVID'S SAYING IN THE LINK ABOVE. SO,YOU DON'T NEED TO SPECIALIZE IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT GENES (GENES* FOR HIGH ATHLETICISM) BECAUSE THOSE GENES WILL GIVE YOU AN ADVANTAGE OVER OTHER KIDS AND ALLOW YOU TO QUICKLY ACQUIRE THE SKILLS NEEDED FOR A SPECIFIC SPORT AND DEVELOP THOSE SKILLS MORE THOROUGHLY, MAKING UP FOR YOUR LATER START IN THAT SPORT OR LESS PRACTICING/PLAYING OF THAT SPORT. (IT'S ALL IN THE GENES. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AN ATHLETIC BLACK GUY WHO HAS NEVER WORKED OUT (LIFTED WEIGHTS)? HAVE YOU SEEN HIS BODY? IT'S USUALLY MUSCULARLY DEFINED, ALMOST AS IF HE DID WORK OUT (LIFT WEIGHTS), AND IT'S TYPICALLY MUCH MORE MUSCULARLY DEFINED THAN THE BODY OF A WHITE OR ASIAN GUY WHO DOES WORKOUT! WHY? BECAUSE THE BLACK GUY IS GENETICALLY INCLINED TO HAVE A BODY WITH MUSCULAR DEFINITION! THE SAME APPLIES TO A BLACK KID WHO DIDN'T GROW UP PLAYING BASKETBALL COMPETITIVELY OR PRACTICING THE GAME EVERYDAY! BY THE TIME HE'S A TEENAGER OR YOUNG ADULT, HIS INNATE ATHLETICISM WILL HAVE ALLOWED HIM TO CATCH UP AND SURPASS THE WHITE OR HISPANIC OR ASIAN KID WHO GREW UP PLAYING BASKETBALL COMPETITIVELY AND PRACTICING EVERYDAY! WHY? BECAUSE HIS GENES GIVE HIM AN ADVANTAGE IN BASKETBALL AND THUS ALLOW HIM TO PLAY THE SPORT AS WELL OR BETTER WITH LESS PRACTICE! DON'T BELIEVE ME? THINK OF THE BLACKS YOU'VE PLAYED WITH WHO HAVE NEVER PLAYED AT A HIGH LEVEL, NOR TOOK THE GAME SERIOUSLY GROWING UP, BUT CAN STILL OUTPLAY GUYS THAT PLAYED AND PRACTICED THE GAME ALL OF THEIR LIVES! THEN, READ THE CHAPTER IS THE SPORTS GENE ON THIS EXACT MATTER!)
That's Like NFL And NBA Niggers In The 60s, 70s, 80s, And 90s Only Going Out And Having Children With The White Girl! (The Sexual Revolution Of The 60s Gave High Status Blacks The Opportunity To Date And Be Seen With The White Girl! And From The 60s On The Black Man Has Been Dating And Been Seen With The White Girl!)
*GENES FOR HIGH ATHLETICISM ARE COMMON AMONG SAMOANS. I WAS AT THE GYM LAST WEEK (02/01/16) AND SAW THIS HAMO BROTHER THERE (PEARLY CITY 24) https://twitter.com/drewdeezy454
HE DIDN'T LOOK LIKE HE PLAYED BASKETBALL OFTEN, BUT HE PROVED MY POINT THAT SAMOANS HAVE ABOVE AVERAGE ATHLETICISM. HOW DID HE PROVE THIS POINT? BY OUT PLAYING (PLAYING BETTER THAN) THE JAPANESE, FILIPINOS, AND CHINESE THAT HE WAS PLAYING AGAINST (THE JAPANESE, FILIPINOS, AND CHINESE WHO PLAY BASKETBALL MORE OFTEN THAN HE) AT THE PEARL FITNESS 24 HOUR FITNESS. HE HAS HIGH, INNATE AGILITY AND DEFT TOUCH (AND A DECENT LOOKING SHOOTING FORM).
https://twitter.com/Seven60_Athlete
SPEAKING OF SAMOANS, DO I KNOW THESE HAMOS (THE COACHES)? NO. BUT THEY'VE SEEN ME AROUND.
https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484/
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/inquiring-minds-david-epstein-sports-genes
http://www.biology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/Garland/Sports_Illustrated_Epstein_sports_genes_2010.pdf
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBGKc89N4q9/?taken-by=bigdave_tausha
AFTER READING DAVID EPSTEIN'S BOOK I'VE CHANGED MY MIND AND NOW AGREE WITH MY FATHER WHO ALWAYS SAID TO INTRODUCE YOUR CHILDREN TO A VARIETY OR SPORTS AND THEN ALLOW THEM TO PLAY WHATEVER SPORTS THEY ENJOY PLAYING, WHICH IS WHAT DAVID'S SAYING IN THE LINK ABOVE. SO,YOU DON'T NEED TO SPECIALIZE IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT GENES (GENES* FOR HIGH ATHLETICISM) BECAUSE THOSE GENES WILL GIVE YOU AN ADVANTAGE OVER OTHER KIDS AND ALLOW YOU TO QUICKLY ACQUIRE THE SKILLS NEEDED FOR A SPECIFIC SPORT AND DEVELOP THOSE SKILLS MORE THOROUGHLY, MAKING UP FOR YOUR LATER START IN THAT SPORT OR LESS PRACTICING/PLAYING OF THAT SPORT. (IT'S ALL IN THE GENES. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AN ATHLETIC BLACK GUY WHO HAS NEVER WORKED OUT (LIFTED WEIGHTS)? HAVE YOU SEEN HIS BODY? IT'S USUALLY MUSCULARLY DEFINED, ALMOST AS IF HE DID WORK OUT (LIFT WEIGHTS), AND IT'S TYPICALLY MUCH MORE MUSCULARLY DEFINED THAN THE BODY OF A WHITE OR ASIAN GUY WHO DOES WORKOUT! WHY? BECAUSE THE BLACK GUY IS GENETICALLY INCLINED TO HAVE A BODY WITH MUSCULAR DEFINITION! THE SAME APPLIES TO A BLACK KID WHO DIDN'T GROW UP PLAYING BASKETBALL COMPETITIVELY OR PRACTICING THE GAME EVERYDAY! BY THE TIME HE'S A TEENAGER OR YOUNG ADULT, HIS INNATE ATHLETICISM WILL HAVE ALLOWED HIM TO CATCH UP AND SURPASS THE WHITE OR HISPANIC OR ASIAN KID WHO GREW UP PLAYING BASKETBALL COMPETITIVELY AND PRACTICING EVERYDAY! WHY? BECAUSE HIS GENES GIVE HIM AN ADVANTAGE IN BASKETBALL AND THUS ALLOW HIM TO PLAY THE SPORT AS WELL OR BETTER WITH LESS PRACTICE! DON'T BELIEVE ME? THINK OF THE BLACKS YOU'VE PLAYED WITH WHO HAVE NEVER PLAYED AT A HIGH LEVEL, NOR TOOK THE GAME SERIOUSLY GROWING UP, BUT CAN STILL OUTPLAY GUYS THAT PLAYED AND PRACTICED THE GAME ALL OF THEIR LIVES! THEN, READ THE CHAPTER IS THE SPORTS GENE ON THIS EXACT MATTER!)
New trend. Polynesian NFL players with everyone but Polynesian women.
*GENES FOR HIGH ATHLETICISM ARE COMMON AMONG SAMOANS. I WAS AT THE GYM LAST WEEK (02/01/16) AND SAW THIS HAMO BROTHER THERE (PEARLY CITY 24) https://twitter.com/drewdeezy454
HE DIDN'T LOOK LIKE HE PLAYED BASKETBALL OFTEN, BUT HE PROVED MY POINT THAT SAMOANS HAVE ABOVE AVERAGE ATHLETICISM. HOW DID HE PROVE THIS POINT? BY OUT PLAYING (PLAYING BETTER THAN) THE JAPANESE, FILIPINOS, AND CHINESE THAT HE WAS PLAYING AGAINST (THE JAPANESE, FILIPINOS, AND CHINESE WHO PLAY BASKETBALL MORE OFTEN THAN HE) AT THE PEARL FITNESS 24 HOUR FITNESS. HE HAS HIGH, INNATE AGILITY AND DEFT TOUCH (AND A DECENT LOOKING SHOOTING FORM).
https://twitter.com/Seven60_Athlete
SPEAKING OF SAMOANS, DO I KNOW THESE HAMOS (THE COACHES)? NO. BUT THEY'VE SEEN ME AROUND.
https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484/
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/07/inquiring-minds-david-epstein-sports-genes
Sample many sports in childhood—don't specialize too early. As every parent knows, elite athleticism comes at a high price in the US, with many coaches pressuring talented children to start specialized practice immediately—often to the exclusion of other sports and activities. "AAU basketball has a second graders' national championships now," notes Epstein. "This is like kids who are over-hand heaving a ball at a 10-foot rim. They've convinced parents it's like an important part of the scouting pipeline and their kids will get behind if they don't go."
Epstein argues that this push towards specialization—which he attributes to the popularization of the 10,000 hours rule—has been a "disaster."
"There's now a pretty strong body of evidence that we've over-specialized kids too early, and it actually makes them worse athletes," he says. What Epstein is getting at is that there seems to be a critical "sampling period" before puberty, during which many eventual professional athletes play a variety of sports. Hyper-specialization makes it harder for kids to find the sport that is best suited to their biology. As an example for parents to follow, Epstein points to two-time NBA most valuable player Steve Nash, who didn't start playing basketball until he was 12 or 13.
Grow up in a small town. The trend towards hyper-specialization might even explain why professional athletes come disproportionately from small towns, far away from elite training programs, instead of from major metropolises. If you're from a city with a population of more than 5 million people, you're actually less likely than the average Joe to make it to the NBA. If you come from a town of 50,000 to 99,000 people, your chances are 11 times greater than average of making it to the NFL or the NBA. These towns "are vastly over-represented for producing elite athletes," says Epstein, "because they're big enough to have a team, and small enough to avoid all of the hyper-specialization that the 10,000 hours has caused."
NOT WRITTEN VERY WELL, BUT HOPEFULLY YOU GET THE POINT, NIGGETTE. AND WHAT'S THE POINT? THE POINT IS THAT IT ALL STARTS WITH THE GENES. BLACK GENES INCLINE THEM TO HAVE EARLY SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS, SO THEY CONTINUE PLAYING SPORTS (SINCE THEY ENJOY THE SUCCESS THEY'RE HAVING IN THEM) AND ONLY GET BETTER AT THEM. THIS SAME PROCESS OCCURS AMONG JEWS, NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPEANS, AMERICAN WHITES, AND EAST ASIANS IN REGARD TO ACADEMICS. THESE RACES EXCEL AT SCHOLARLY MATTERS, WHICH LEADS THEM TO PREFER THEM, PRACTICE THEM MORE (SPEND MORE TIME READING, THINKING ANALYTICALLY, THINKING SPATIALLY, SOLVING PROBLEMS, ETC.), AND EVENTUALLY SUCCEED AND DOMINATE IN FIELDS THAT ARE RELATED TO ACADEMICS.
Why Aren't The Roles Reversed? Why Don't Blacks And Africans Excel In The Academic Arena While East Asians And Western Europeans Excel In Athletics? Because Blacks And Africans Don't Have The Genes For Academic Success. Blacks And Africans Don't Have Genes That Incline Them To Be Interested In Academic Matters, Nor Do They Have The Genes (Genes Related To IQ) That Give Them An Advantage In Academics. So If You're Not Interested In Something And You Don't Do Well In Something* (e.g. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Etc.) You Won't Be Passionate And Committed To That Something, And You'll Eventually Give Up On That Something And Whatever Latent Ability That You May Have Had With Respect To That Something Will Fall By The Wayside, Wither, And Not Be Developed Or Honed. For Instance, Why Do East Asians Do Well In Math And Fields Related To Math? Because They Have Genes That Give Them An Advantage In Math (IQ And Spatial Related Genes). So With This Innate Advantage They Do Exceptionally Well In Math, Outperform Other Students, And Begin To Prefer Math Over Other Subjects. This Early Success Then Leads Them To Take An Interest In Math And Spend More Time Doing Math. And The More Time They Spend On It The Better They Become (They Develop And Hone Their Math Related Skills). So That Initial Genetic Advantage That They Were Born With Eventually Increases (The Advantage Grows Larger) And The Gap Between They And Their Less Mathematically Inclined Counterparts Widens (It Becomes A Huge Chasm In Adulthood By The Time Their Mathematicians, Physicists, Engineers, Etc.).
"Been To Jail...Been Through Hell...Probably Coulda Went To Yale" - Comarada From Tha Ava (Conrad From Da Ave)
"ANYTHING YOU DO LONG ENOUGH YOU GONNA GET GOOD AT QUICK WHETHER IT'S PIMPIN' H0ES 0R SLANGIN' H0T D0GS 0N A STICC!" - MR. FREE
NOW, READ THE PAGES BELOW. THEY EXPLAIN HOW ONE CHANNELS (THROUGH THE HELP OF OTHERS) HIS/HER INNATE ABILITY AND INTEREST IN ACADEMICS INTO A CAREER IN ACADEMICS AND REACHES HIS INTELLECTUAL POTENTIAL!
That doesn't mean that Dick denies the importance of genes and individual differences that are genetically based. He merely appreciates the fact that all people are like growing plants that interact with their environment, however much their genes influence the rules of engagement. Contrast the growth metaphor with the metaphor of The Bell Curve, which is that each person is born a certain way, like a lead soldier, and remains in the same position for the rest of his or her life.
Each of us is a growing organism with complex rules of engagement for interacting with our environment. The rules of engagement are strongly influenced by the particular hand of genes that we are dealt, making us unique coming out of the starting gate. Then the rules of engagement change on the basis of experience, making us doubly unique. We don't even remotely understand our own rules of engagement, which take place largely beneath conscious awareness. Science doesn't understand our rules of engagement, either, or rather has barely started to ask the right questions. Given such profound ignorance, WE OFTEN OPERATE FAR BELOW OUR POTENTIAL!
[the rules of engagement Mr. Sloan is speaking of is the product of our genes interacting with our environment to create our experiences. so how we experience the world. how we think, react, and behave in the world.]
Whether by nature or by nurture, Omar had no interest pleasing authority and found school so mind-numbingly dull that he would rather stare out the window, making his first-grade teacher wonder if he could understand English. When he was given an aptitude test in fourth grade, he was told that it wouldn't count for his grade. "Sweet!" he thought, and proceeded to answer the questions at random. When concern was expressed over his dismal score, he protested that he had...
[continue reading in the page below]
Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions about talent. There is no such thing as "innate" talent. No one is born with fully developed traits. Michael Jordan didn't pop out dunking a basketball from the free throw line. People differ in their genetic foundation, but all talents must be developed through an intricate and dynamic interplay of ability, motivation, practice, and support.
Based on detailed interviews with the children and their family members, David Henry Feldman and Lynn Goldsmith concluded that the prodigy phenomenon is the result of a lucky “coincidence” of factors, including the following: the existence of a domain matched exceptionally well to the prodigy’s proclivities and interests, availability of the domain in the prodigy’s geographical location, healthy social/emotional development, family aspects (birth order and gender), education and preparation (informal and formal), cultural support, recognition for achievement in the domain, access to training resources, material support from family members, at least one parent completely committed to the prodigy’s development, family traditions that favor the prodigy’s development, and historical forces, events, and trends.
More accurately, genes can be thought of as learning devices that predispose us to acquire certain information in the environment, and ignore other aspects of our world. Viewed in this way, genes are fundamentally active seekers of knowledge as they attempt to find the best fit to their genome. Therefore, genes exert their influences on the development of talent through their control of motivations, preferences, and emotional responses. Over time, people will accumulate experiences that result in the practice of skills, habits, and patterns of responding that reinforce the drives in an ongoing mutually reinforcing cycle (see Experience Producing Drive Theory). These drives apply to all areas of individual differences, including motivations, interests, personality, attitude, values, and quirky traits unique to each individual.
Think
of the kid who is immediately attracted to structure of classical music
and spends hours and hours practicing the violin without anyone telling
him to do so. Or the young girl who finds numbers beautiful and spends
many hours playing with numbers in her head, discovering new patterns
and the structure of mathematics. These children find these activities
and rule structures inherently rewarding. And their skills in their
respective areas build up because they seek out opportunities to do the
things that they find rewarding, gaining lots of practice along the way.
Therefore, it is possible that prodigies are born with genetic variants that relate to various tendencies, including an attentional focus on details and a brain-network wiring that supports an enhanced encoding of new memories. This could explain why prodigies frequently report that they were attracted early on to domains that deal with systems, and why many also display -- even in infancy -- an enhanced ability to maintain mental representations, with the working memory of prodigies most enhanced for the symbol systems that interest them the most, such as mathematical or linguistic stimuli.
After just a few years of obsessive focus, prodigies build up rich long-term working memory structures that allow them to assimilate and learn new information faster and faster. This could also explain their enhanced ability to manipulate information in their heads. In sum, child prodigies rapidly develop brain structures that make them even more prepared to learn new information within their domain.
Therefore, it is possible that prodigies are born with genetic variants that relate to various tendencies, including an attentional focus on details and a brain-network wiring that supports an enhanced encoding of new memories. This could explain why prodigies frequently report that they were attracted early on to domains that deal with systems, and why many also display -- even in infancy -- an enhanced ability to maintain mental representations, with the working memory of prodigies most enhanced for the symbol systems that interest them the most, such as mathematical or linguistic stimuli.
After just a few years of obsessive focus, prodigies build up rich long-term working memory structures that allow them to assimilate and learn new information faster and faster. This could also explain their enhanced ability to manipulate information in their heads. In sum, child prodigies rapidly develop brain structures that make them even more prepared to learn new information within their domain.
Which is why I believe it's so important for society to have an accurate understanding of how talent develops, and the environmental structures that support flourishing in every child. I recommend an educational system that exposes children to as many materials as possible, and leaves the door continually open for accelerated and enriched resources whenever a child displays his or her readiness for engagement.
Prodigies will continue to fascinate us, but let's make sure that in our fascination with them, we don't forget that they require the nurturance and development of their inclinations and passions just as much as the rest of us.
Portions of this post were taken from my earlier article at The Creativity Post.
image credit cover: istockphoto; image credit #1: cnn
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Scott Barry Kaufman is Scientific Director of The Imagination Institute in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Follow on Twitter @sbkaufman
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
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ONCE YOU'VE CHOSEN YOUR PARENTS (ONCE YOU'VE GOT THE RIGHT GENES) YOU HAVE TO CREATE THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT TO NURTURE AND CULTIVATE THOSE GENES (MAKE THE MOST OF THOSE GENES). READ BELOW!
In a sense, the process of becoming who you are is defined by carving back the possibilities that were already present. You become who you are not because of what grows in your brain, but because of what is removed.
Over our protracted childhood, the brain continually pares back its connections, shaping itself to the particulars of its environment. This is a smart strategy to match a brain to its environment.
As Pitsiladis put it, to be a world-beater, "you absolutely must choose your parents correctly." He was being facetious, of course, because we can't choose our parents. Nor do humans tend to couple with conscious knowledge of one another's gene variants. We pair up more in the manner of a roulette ball that bounces off a few pockets before settling into one of many suitable spots. Williams suggests, hypothetically, that if humanity is to produce an athlete with more "correct" sports genes, one approach is to weight the genetic roulette ball with more lineages in which parents and grandparents are outstanding athletes and thus probably harbor a large number of good athleticism genes. Yao Ming - at 7'5", once the tallest active player in the NBA - was born from China's tallest couple, a pair of ex-basketball players brought together by the Chinese basketball federation. As Brook Larmer writes in Operation Yao Ming: "Two generations of Yao Ming's forebears had been singled out by authorities for their hulking physiques, and his mother and father were both drafted into the sports system against their will." Still, the witting merger of athletes in pursuit of superstar progeny is rare.
Even that would not guarantee athletic success for any individual offspring of great athletes. In fact, the better the parents are, the less likely it is that the child will be equally good. In any trait that is influenced by many genes, it is simply statistically unlikely that a child is going to get as lucky as a very lucky parent. The phrase "regression to the mean" sprang in part from the study of height. Of course, the child of two seven-footers is very likely to be taller than average, but not likely to be as significant of an outlier as his parents. Similarly, the child of two extraordinarily gifted athletes will likely have more of the gene combinations that contribute to athleticism than a randomly selected person, but will be hard-pressed to get as lucky as her mother and father. (The Sports Gene)
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