Throughout his book, The Genius in All of Us, David Shenk
makes it clear that his message consists of the fact that talent is not a
thing, but rather a process in which takes patience to develop. On Monday after I finished running my
mega-lap for PE, I was standing around to catch my breath while the basketball
girls practiced nearby. As I waited for
the rest of my class to finish as well, I decided to take a seat and two girls
seated next to me were having a conversation. The only exchange that I managed
to hear (not that I was trying to eavesdrop) was when the African American girl
mentioned to her friend,” I was going to try out for basketball… but I suck... AND
I’m Black so I’d just be a disappointment.”
When she said this I felt sorry for her. Little did she know that with practice, she’d
probably end up just as good as the other girls, but for the obvious reasons,
she seemed to believe that because of her ethnic background / genes, she should
automatically be a great athlete.
Coincidentally, I had recently read about this subject in chapter six
titled “Can White Men Jump?”
In this chapter, Shenk takes his time on emphasizing the
fact that this concept is not true by individually numbering his main
assertions:
“1. DESPITE APPEARANCES TO THE CONTRARY, RACIAL AND ETHNIC
GROUPS ARE NOT GENETICALLY DISCRETE.
Skin color is a great deceive; actual genetic differences
between ethnic and geographic groups are very, very limited. “
"2. GENES DON’T DIRECTLY CAUSE TRAITS; THEY ONLY INFLUENCE
THE SYSTEM.”
It is important for people to acknowledge these facts
because being a certain ethnicity does NOT determine one’s performance.
I am glad I have come across this nonfiction book because it
has given me factual detail on subjects I used to dismiss. It has also given me self-confidence that I can
legitimately do anything I set my mind to.
Hi Valerie, I am also currently reading the Genius in All of Us and to a certain extent I agree with Shenk that one's ethnicity and racial lineage do not solely contribute to their athletic capability, I feel he does not give it enough credit. Though he does not completely discredit their role in our performance I do not agree that hard work can lead one to be extraordinary in a field they were not physically designed to do. One of my good friends (he was white I might add) was once a member of the same cross country team as I was and at first glance he did not appear at all to be cut out for a long distance runner. Despite two years of endless hours of practicing and running his dedication did not make up for his lack of compatibility with the sport. As it turns out his brother and father were also members of the sport and neither of them had excelled in it either.
ReplyDeleteI can see why you guys would agree with this but I am not convinced. Genes clearly play a role in a person's ability to excel in a particular sport. For Instance, Michael Jordan, who some consider to be the greatest NBA player of all time, used his agility, explosiveness and length to dominate. This is because Jordan was at a relatively ideal height at 6-6 which was not too tall allowing him to be agile and explosive, and not too short, allowing him to use his height to his advantage as well. Had Jordan been six inches taller or shorter he would not have the same special ability that allowed to dominate the way he did. Clearly, gene do play a role in a persons ability to excel in certain sports.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I find this very interesting, I would have to agree with Mathew on this one. It is very common for the children of professional athletes to follow in their parents footsteps and become successful professional athletes as well. Though some may say it is because their parents train them, it also has to do heavily with their genes. I will use Usain Bolt and Venus Williams as an example here, even though they are not really a couple. Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world, if not history. While Venus Williams is the most successful women tennis player in history. If they were to mate, I am sure their child would have some sort of genetic advantage over the average couples child.
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