Josh Weisberg (superswimmer51@sbcglobal.net)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Argument: teaching an old dog new tricks
There is an old saying that says "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." According to Shenk's model (pg 31) of "dynamic development" (Pg 33) is this true? If genes, environmental factors, and proteins all interact in both ways to influence cells and traits, is the following truthful? There is no doubt that over time, a person learns how to deal with environmental stresses better, how to faster and more easily adapt, learn, and improve their environment. Also, the interaction between their genetics and environment becomes more and more dynamic, with added factors which would minimize the significance of other factors. Thus, would an older, wiser person's environment begin to have less and less effect on their genes? Therefore, it would be harder to teach them new tricks, because their genetics would become less and less influenced by their environment.
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ReplyDeleteThe old saying that you can't teach an old person to do something new and break old habits does seem to be a general rule that applies to many. However, we must consider how much of this is a mindset versus a genetic/environmental effect. Both may be influencing the aging process and thus the ability to change habits and learn new things.
DeleteWe know that developing children have active telomerase, which lengthens the DNA telomeres. However, telomerase is inactive in most adult cells, and this difference has been linked to aging. Perhaps this points to an additional connection. Telomerase helps with development (rapid change), thus it is only a short leap to the idea that the lack of telomerase in adults makes them less likely to acquire new abilities and change in response to their environment. In a way, this might mean that G*E turns more into G+E as a person ages, as the environment might truly be losing influence on a person's development.
However, this doesn't necessarily mean that environment has no effect at all on a person after the developmental stage. It may only mean that it is less likely that a subtle change in environment will affect a large change in an adult. In a way, a child's inability to cope with large changes in environment and situation is what really allows for drastic change and improvement of abilities while developing. Thus it is true that an adult's ability to deal with changes in the environment is a blockade to the ability to acquire new abilities in response to change.
Emily Reinherz...ereinherz@aol.com