Shenk describes the old paradigm: "exceptional abilities were things bestowed upon a very lucky person" (58), and "the word 'talent' goes back much further and was used first for many centuries as a measurement of weight and then as a name for currency" (244). He also explains how judgment and hard work, more than any flash of inspiration, make the talent/genius.
Explain the correlation between money and talent here and how this displays the popular belief of talent as a natural ability.Using information from the book and themes of natural selection/evolution, argue the advantages (and disadvantages) of talent and the reason why talent may have seemed a type of genetic currency before the advent of the G*E theory.
Emily Reinherz...ereinherz@aol.com
Many people play sports for recreational reasons while other play more competitively. Of those who play competitively, some are considered exceptional. These exceptional players may find themselves in the professional leagues where they are paid millions for doing what they do best. This applies to many fields including music and the arts. Just like how Beethoven and Yo-yo Ma were children of great musicians, many athletes also tend to have family connections, which made it look like a natural ability. People also notice in modern times how certain races excel in sports. Shenk mention how Jamaicans were winning Olympic medals. Geneticists soon found “that almost all Jamaicans are flush with alpha-actinin-3” which causes rapid muscle contractions and “is produced by a special gene variant called ACTN3” (101). With advancing knowledge in genetics, talent continues to appear as natural ability. Scientific American published an article in 2008 that talk about a tool created by Atlas Sport Genetics used to detect the presence of the ACTN3 gene. Not only does this cost less than $150 on its release but the president of the company, Kevin Reilly, says that “it is more useful than physical tests in determining a child's athletic abilities before age 9.” Although he also talks about a child’s development being a factor, the creation of this product proves that people rely on genetics as the primary indicator of talent.
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If talent were purely genetics, it would have been genetic currency. The person with the highest levels of talent, in such circumstances, would also posses the best genes for that talent. This would mean that his/her lineage would have the most talented individuals. In reality, this would produce elite families across the globe presiding over “normal” people. Of course with the G*E dynamic there are talented individuals across the planet. But talents can also have disadvantages since they are relative. Campbell mentions that an important concept in natural selection is that “a trait that is favorable in one place or time may be useless… in other places or times” (459). This means that certain characteristics may be considered talent in certain places but might be harmful in other places. Since talent does have a genetic component, it also follows this rule. For example, with the Jamaican runners with overactive ACTN3 genes are beneficial in running Olympic races. But runners also need lean muscles and minimal amount of body fat. But if this runner were in the polar regions of the Arctic or Antarctic, then the lack of body fat would be detrimental because of the body’s need to conserve and generate more heat in cold environments. A simpler example is that superstars like Ted Williams who practices intensely in a particular activity, in his case baseball, and then he has less practice in other areas and would perform worse than average, say academics or music. The major disadvantage to being incredibly talented in one field or activity is that you perform worse in other fields or activities. Evolutionarily speaking, this means that performing and practicing well in an activity in your current environment may remove you from the gene pool in a different environment.
Alvin Varghese (alvin.varghese@hotmail.com)