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Why is everybody so binary about this? Are we really suggesting that some individuals are not capable of intellectual tasks at a greater capacity, or a greater
by ralusek 10y ago
Why is everybody so binary about this? Are we really suggesting that some individuals are not capable of intellectual tasks at a greater capacity, or a greater speed than others?
If you understand that a human being has a higher cognitive function than a sea slug, a wasp, a mouse, a dog, a dolphin, an ape, by our genetics alone, then you have to accept that there is a degree of genetic variance between individual humans. It's not like the moment we all qualify as the same species all genetic variance in every regard goes away. Some people are taller than others, some people are better at abstract thought, some people are better at linear calculation.
Of course nurturing these talents is incredibly important, nobody is denying that. But the more studies that come out, the more it seems to suggest that the ability to produce exceptional results with the nurturing of specific practices is hugely magnified by genetic predisposition.
- lintiness 10y agoapply the same to "sexes" and "races", and you offend our modern pc sensibilities.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- matt-attack 10y agoGod forbid either of those words imply there's a difference despite the very definitions of those words are to classify and distinguish plainly different groups.
- truth_sentinell 10y ago"Genetics" is the new God. Apparently people assign whatever they don't know or understand to genetics. Can't play football? That's genetics!! Knows math? More genetics!! Are actually there studies that claim a special ability is due to genetics only?
- smnplk 10y agoIt takes genetics to be interested in something too I believe.
- truth_sentinell 10y agoI need proof. This is one of the questions I have been interested in for a long time. Do we invent or discover ourselves?
- nitrogen 10y agoYou might enjoy reading some of the discussions of free will (or the lack thereof) in the face of a material universe. A good starting point might be searching for "free will" on Jerry Coyne's blog: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com+%22free+will%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=site:whyevolutionistrue.word...
- antisthenes 10y agoDo you really need a study to see that the top athletes in the Olympics, for example, are all there due to genetic advantages? Whether it's higher endurance, a tiny difference in bone structure, longer arms, greater height, etc. - that's all mostly genetics with a bit of environmental factors mixed in (like childhood nutrition) But cognitive abilities and intelligence are far less understood, because you simply can't measure it as well as physical achievements (in fact, some of the top comments here gripe about using a PhD degree as a benchmark for achievement; or patents; or publications; or even income level)
- truth_sentinell 10y agoI perfectly understand the physical genetics advantages. But people here and everywhere are attributing intelligence to genetics as it was as evident as physical traits.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
- sliverstorm 10y agoWe don't know how to measure the potential of an individual. We are pretty sure that learning & hard work is important for everyone, no matter how genius. We suspect that focusing on innate aptitude encourages laziness and/or learned helplessness. And of course, lastly, you can't change it. It just doesn't seem that productive to worry about how genetically gifted you are, one way or the other. Potentially even detrimental.
- panglott 10y agoOf course there are innate factors and learned/environmental factors, but the relationship between genetic predisposition and learning are huge, and they magnify each other. A human infant at birth has a brain size similar to a chimpanzee, but the human's brain grows much, much larger and more complex over the next decade of two. Human brains also grow to support the cognitive burdens they're directed to: people who study music intensively rather than baseball will grow distinctive brain folds, for example.