David Shenk has good news. Geniuses aren’t born, and very few of us
have genetic limitation on our capacities.
Just to make sure you get it, his book is entitled
The Genius in All of Us.
Shenk challenges the notion that genius, talent, and the potential to
excel in a field is something a few people are born with, lucky people who hit
the jackpot in the genetic lottery. He
is not entirely an advocate of nurture in the nature-versus-nurture
debate. He looks at new science that
suggests that that is a false notion to begin with. Traits, including intelligence, develop form the interaction of genes and the environment.
Genes are not a blueprint that determine out traits. Genes influence our reaction to the
environment. The environment influences
the expression of our genes. It’s
complex. Shenk devote a chapter to
epigenetics. This is material in our
cells that protect and support the function of our genes. Our epigenes influence the expression of our
genes, are influenced by the environment, and most astounding are
hereditable. Environmental and
behavioral factors can change the epigenes in ways that are passed on to
offspring for generations and affect the expression of genes in those
offspring.
Unless we have some unusual genetic disorder, the lesson of this book
is that our genes are just one card in the hand we are dealt, and genes are not
necessarily the most important card.
Genes are important, but so are a lot of other things. Our traits are malleable, shaped by genes,
environment, and behavior, and to the degree that we can influence those things
we can change our traits. We can become
geniuses.
The bad news is the road to genius is not an easy one. Mozart and Michael Jordon have in common that
they put in a lot of time over a many years deliberately practicing and
improving their skills. Beethoven and
Yo-Yo Ma may seem like born prodigies, but they were surrounded my music, music
teachers, encouragement, challenges, competition, high expectations, and
opportunities from birth. Abundant
practice and continuing improvement from early childhood helped them become
very competent musicians as children, and many more years of deliberate practice,
commitment, and mentoring resulted in the genius they exhibited as adults.
Based on this, Shenk presents a chapter on how to become a genius. Genius may not be quite the right word,
especially if you starting something later in life after years of thinking you
had little ability. However, I think his
advice is likely to lead to great improvement, even above normal success and
excellence. The first piece of advice is
to find your motivation. If you have the
motivation to devote a lot of time to practice, and the commitment push yourself
to always seek improvement, you will get better and with time will be
excellent. Shenk also has a lot to say
about how this information can help parents and educators see the potential in
children and contribute to the development of their traits and their success in
any field.
I was very impressed with this surprisingly short book. Actually, if you include the extensive notes,
which are worth reading, it is not a short book. It opened my eyes to a new, and I think more
fruitful, way of looking at the way people develop.
Shenk, David. The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About
Genetic, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong.
New York: Doubleday, 2010.
Google
