Over pages 106-111, Shenk talks about the advantages that Jamaicans have which make them better at track and field. He states that it is not completely the genes and definetely not the race, but it is mainly their motivation or mind set which helps propel them to win so many Olympic Medals.
How does Shenk's discussion of the Jamaican lifestyle demonstrate natural selection/evolution? In what other instances could mind set influence an adaptation or give advantages to an organism? What are some similarities and differences between different races? Will other countries be able to produce as great of track and field athletes as Jamaica? Explain. (Regan Frieling, regan1995@yahoo.com)
Argument
Shenk’s discussion of the Jamaican lifestyle demonstrates natural selection and evolution because Jamaicans and other Africans benefited from being fast. Being fast benefited by being better hunter, which makes them able to survive in that environment. Positive mind set can influence an adaptation or give advantages to an organism by motivating them to train or practice to achieve our goal. Some of the similarities between different races are that we are all from same African ancestors, which means that we have similar genes. But also, living in different environments give lots of differences between the races. One of the main example is the skin color of human. Depending on where we live, our skin color is different. Also, in page 108, Shenk mentions that different races have different culture, knowledge, and attitude because of the environment difference. In page 110, Shenk wrote “ All thing considered, it seems obvious that the mind is the most athletic part of any Jamaican athlete’s body.” Shenk also gives a example of a athlete who ran a mile in four minute (Roger Bannister) and he wasn’t Jamaican. This shows that other countries are able to produce as great of track and field athletes as Jamaica. Also, Shenk says “These are not superhumans with rare super-genes.” So most important thing to become great athlete is the mind set, not their genes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0803-happierlife.html
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Like mentioned above, Jamaican runners are one of the best in the world because of their lifestyle. I disagree that Jamaican runners have their talent because of natural selection or evolution. The reason why Jamaican runners are amazing is because “they are participants in a culture of the extreme” (Shenk 111). There is no need for the species to become better runners only the few who are amazing will succeed in the running. So like Shenk mentioned Jamaican runners do not have amazing genes but a really strong influence from the environment.
ReplyDeleteA great mind set can help anyone achieve almost everything. There are extremely smart but do not have the mindset that they want to work hard. The slackers who are extremely smart can easily take on many AP’s but instead of choose to do the easy classes. If they were to change their mind set they would have the ability to succeed in harder classes. But not only in academics does the mindset matter but also in sports. When playing tennis the best advice I always give is to stay calm and try to win point by point. Having a great attitude helps me a lot to play strong and confidently during my match.
The similarities and differences of different races are only the values they have. In a village in the China, a kid probably does not train to become a runner but instead practices to become a better test taker to get into a university. Their mindset and values are on different things which means that they will succeed in the events with which they spend the most time with. And I am sure if their values changed to placing a great emphasis on running, the next generation of children will grow up in a competitive environment where they would train hard to become better athletes.
Ayana Dambaeva (adambaeva@gmail.com)