For my book, I chose to read The Genius in All Of Us by David Shenk since I have lately wondered how I could increase my mind's capacity to absorb information. What especially intrigues me about this book is that it uses many examples of how our environment that we find ourselves in can play such a crucial role in molding the various aspects of our lifes. Such examples include the rats maze study, the great Ted Williams and his vigorous drive to excel in baseball, and Mozart's coming of age with a musically brilliant father who taught him at a very early age. Most of our culture thinks of talent as being something that is genetically inherited which Shenk continuously disproves. From what I have experienced in my life, I know this is definitely not accurate as I am the first in my family to take more than one AP class.
While reading about the many different aspects of the environment that can shape our personalities (family, socio-economic levels, and more importantly friends), I was reminded of two important aspects of my life, that is I am the only male presence in my family and I had watched several hours of PBS cartoons when I was young. Because of the life lessons and educational themes of PBS programming, I probably gained much of my influence on my impressionable mind for love of learning from the channel, not to mention the negative effects such as my limited concentration that Nicholas Carr explained in The Shallows.
Throughout The Genius in All of Us, Shenk lists the many areas that one's mind has to go through and exerprience to increase it's potential to master a particular subject as a result of different environments. The way in which he list them really helped me organize my trains of thought. One segment that I enjoyed reading was in Chapter 7 when Shenk explains the different keys to achieving a great mind: believing, supporting, pacing/persisting, and embracing failures. Of course, many people already know what it takes to triumph in today's world, but he does an excellent job in tying how these different ideas can produce an extraordinary individual. For me, this is going to take an extraordinary amount of time as I am still in love with television's medium but reading this has just inspired me more in regards to achieving many educational goals, especially in word problems for AP Calculus.
Throughout The Genius in All of Us, Shenk lists the many areas that one's mind has to go through and exerprience to increase it's potential to master a particular subject as a result of different environments. The way in which he list them really helped me organize my trains of thought. One segment that I enjoyed reading was in Chapter 7 when Shenk explains the different keys to achieving a great mind: believing, supporting, pacing/persisting, and embracing failures. Of course, many people already know what it takes to triumph in today's world, but he does an excellent job in tying how these different ideas can produce an extraordinary individual. For me, this is going to take an extraordinary amount of time as I am still in love with television's medium but reading this has just inspired me more in regards to achieving many educational goals, especially in word problems for AP Calculus.
I agree with Shenk's idea about the environment affecting our upbringing. Everybody is effected by their environment. A common example would be the cause and effect of bullies. Some bullies bully other people because they get abused at home by their parents. It's a never-ending cycle causes by their environment. Another example would be the father-son relationship or a mother-daughter relationship. The son and daughter look up to their parents so they try to make their parents proud or mimic their parents. It's all caused by the environment. Genes play such a small role compared to the environment. I would say it would be downright atrocious to say genes are the only factor in a child's upbringing.
ReplyDeleteI believe that nobody cannot be affected by their environment. People who try to say that they aren't must look closer at what affected them in the past.
Hey Jesus! While reading your post i thought of my own life and completely see eye to eye with what you are saying. Ever since i was little, my parents got used to seeing my brother as the smarter kid that was like my dad and me as the B student. Although, something in me became quite triggered of this idea of not only to prove them wrong, but to also prove to myself that I can achieve the grades I want if i try hard enough. Lately my grades consist of mostly As than B's due to my OWN effort that was impacted by my enviornment. In addition, I attempted to think in a different manner like Shenk has suggested and it truly does help. Overall, I know that genes arent the #1 reason of my effort. Hopefully I can someday find the genius in myself and for the meantime i know I am making progress. :)
ReplyDeleteI found this fairly interesting when I first read Shenk's ideas as it made me think of one stereotype I have heard all my life and even jokingly used myself: All Asians Are Geniuses. This is simply not true as many people do not understand the way by which many Asian children obtain their good grades. The reason is that they have developed good work and study ethics due to the pressures placed upon them by their parents. In my family, education is valued very highly and though I am more fortunate than others, many other Asian-American families consist of the parents working very hard to try and better their children's lives as is the case with many of my cousins. With their parents working so hard many are expected to get good grades and study harder almost as a form of compensation as they are expected to do their own part.
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