How Acquired Talent Can Make A Difference In The Life Of The Individual?

Life skills play an important role for becoming successful professionally and improving our personal lives. Oprah, in her lifeclass video, talks about being responsible for yourself and not waiting for anyone else to change the circumstances around you as a way to develop the skills necessary to flourish. The story of Robert Sherfields first experience at community college, “How Community College Changed My Life” tells of how Mr. Sherfield let go of his past failures and worked toward a better future for himself. The quote by Charles Noble “First we make our habits, then our habits make us!” is great to remember when developing the life skills necessary to continue to grow in all aspects of our lives. The video, story and quote can all be connected, good habits produce responsible people. Responsible people are aware of their

Experts argue about whether or not we have control over our lives. They question if destiny is determined by fate or by choices we make in our life. Two authors both take their sides on this topic producing evidence to support their claim. David Epstein author of The Sports Gene and Malcolm Gladwell author of Outliers: Story of Success both make an argument on how much we control in our lives in which they take different sides. David Epstein wrote about a track and field athlete who had incredible jumping ability despite never practicing high jumping. Malcolm Gladwell talks about how violinists were never able to float through musical school without putting in the practice hours. They each support their side with

Many psychologists agree that nurture play a greater part in the development of a human being. Studies such as those performed on monozygotic twins (identical), who share the same genetics and those performed

The reading begins with an introduction to what the study is about. The study is about trying dismiss the notion that solely your surroundings and experiences (nurture) or your genetics (nature) is solely the cause for you becoming the person you are today. It begins by explaining how the psychological world was very behavioristic during the later parts of the 20th century. Meaning, people assumed that their surroundings had a lot more influence on their lives, than the genes that they had. The reading also states that people are less likely to accept that they made a choice based on their genetics because it feels like a lack of

The way a child learns to develop a motor skill can depend on various factors. For example, a child’s ability to jump can be influenced by genetics and by nature. People might argue that genetics are more important in determining how high the child will be able to jump. While others might argue that jumping is mainly determined by how you teach and train a child to jump. This is an example of the nature versus nurture debate. Although genes may play a role in developing a child’s skills. This paper will discuss how nurture has more of an influence on how a child’s motor skills develop than nature. The main focus will be how nurture plays a greater role in developing skills such as writing, running, and writing. Nurtures influence on these skills will show how genetics are not as important in the development of motor skills.

There can be something said for “talent” in which one is either born with or born without. This could be linked to genetics, many

One of the first things a child is taught while growing up is the well-known cliché, practice makes perfect. This phrase has been the basis for trial and error situations time and time again, where if it doesn’t work the first time then keep trying. In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell leaves the audience with a memorable observation, the 10,000 hour rule. The basis of the 10,000 hour rule is that an area of interest requires 10,000 hours of practice in order to become an expert. Although this may be true in some situations, how can someone practice something they are unable to do? Natural talent and ability are crucial characteristics in order to become an expert in any area. This phenomena highly lends itself to the observations made about intelligence and genetics. The main misunderstanding when considering whether this argument is fundamentally nature or nurture is the difference between intelligence and education. Many consider education to be exactly equal to intelligence, which is the basis for the believing that working hard will essentially result in intelligence. Intelligence is considered as “a very general mental capability that, among other things, involved the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience” (Colangelo19-39.) Qualities that make up the realm of intelligence are things that people are simply born with and cannot easily be taught and trained. One may be able to work twice as hard as the next person and equalize their achievements, but the essential difference at work is the way the mind process information and the difference between intelligence and education. Although some consider intelligence to be an environmentally based attribute, they fail to understand the true meaning of

On the other hand, the set of talent and role that is refined through time, concern that a person live out while completely doing away with the unpredictable of hereditary characteristics. Therefore, a person invests their time and effort into something that they are good at even if it is not in their lineage. For this reason, when a person is born with certain distinctiveness and even though their nurture may have influences on their personalities to change or be improved, their genes encompass a large influence on how they will live their life. Children may see their friend cheat on a test at school but will not do the same, because they now it wrong because of punishment indirect or direct learning from their parents (Benokraitis, 2010). For this, “one strategy is longitudinal research in which children's initial characteristics can be observed to change over time in relation to specific parenting experiences” (Collins, Maccoby, Steinberg, Hetherington & Bornstein, 2000, p. 223).

It has always been a question for people as to whether their lives are a part of a pre-written destiny or something that can be forged for oneself. Over time, the idea of fate and destiny has been questioned and pondered by everyone. The two book excerpts, The Sports Gene, by David Epstein and, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell detail their views on the matter. While The Sports Gene leans more towards skill being provided by the luck of the genetic draw, Outliers banks more on time spent practicing and developing the skill than he does natural talent. Malcolm Gladwell presents the best argument because he provides more sources when proving the significance of his point.

Ericsson agrees that genetic limitations do exist, like the factors of weight, height and shape. He doesn't believe these have an effect outside the realm of athletics. However, he knows that there is no piece of evidence that can definitively prove that music “...so far that proves that genetic factors related to intelligence or other brain attributes matter when it comes to less physically driven pursuits.”

… Ultimately, the body’s and the brain’s ability to adapt in the face of challenges outweighs any genetic differences that may, in the beginning, give some people an advantage”

What makes a good athlete? What separates a person on the 1st line up from a bench warmer? Where does athleticism come from? Is it from our genes, or is it a product of the environment we live in? These are the types of questions that arise in the nature vs. nurture debate pertaining about athletic ability. In 1582, British educator, Richard Mulcaster wrote that
''Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward,'' he gave the world
a euphonious name for an opposition that has been debated ever since; Nature and Nurture. People's
beliefs about the roles of heredity and environment affect their opinions on an
astonishing range of topics including sports. The nature versus nurture debate not only exists in the sporting community but also in many others. It is a very controversial topic that has puzzled researchers for centuries. There are two sides to the debate; Nature and Nurture. To be on the side on nature one believes that DNA and heredity make us who we are. In the case of sports, an athlete is born with genes that give them the ability to excel in a certain sport. On the other hand, many people believe that we become who we are because of the environment and people around us; Nurture. A nurtured athlete is an individual that has developed elite skills over time caused by rigorous training and their surroundings. Nature or nurture, which contributes more to the creation of professional athletes?

There is one thing for certain in this world, everyone wants to accomplish something in life and we want to recognize our full potential. In order to do this we must have some skills, and in this case it’s life skills. Life skills are a range of characteristics we

The world of Genetics is one that is both fascinating and interesting. When tackling how genetics plays a role in behavior, one must look within the scope of what genetics is before dealing with how it plays a significant role in one’s behavior. Simply put, genetics is the study of genes. It is a biological component within the entire study of biology itself. Scientists who study genetics and perform research do so with the intent to learn more about how genetics affects the overall attitudes, behaviors and dispositions of individuals. It could be said that genetics is somewhat of a psychological-biological science as researchers look at the underlying patterns within the genes that cause

One of the most interesting and controversial areas in behavioral genetics, human intelligence is currently assumed to be subject to both genetic and environmental influences.