Genius Is Learned

This is a summary of the book The Genius In All of Us by David Shenk. In the book he discusses how we commonly misunderstand the concept of a genius and what factors are at play in the making of genius. For the most part the world claims that intelligence is largely an innate, fixed, genetic quality, but recent scientific studies have shown that perspective to be entirely untrue. If genius isn't something that is born, how is it made?

This isn't to say that prodigies or savants like the Rain Man or Will in Goodwill Hunting don't exist, they do. Unfortunately that doesn't guarantee them success. There have been several studies on child prodigies, such as children scoring above a 180 on the IQ test, but none of the children in these studies turned out to be extraordinary adults. The book says that the most likely reason is that these children learned to avoid failure due to the pressure of being successful prodigies and, therefore, failed to push themselves to develop their talents. Their relationship with failure was more indicative of long-term success than ability itself. Even Michael Jordan was kicked off of his high school basketball team, but afterwards his career was distinguished by a reputation of being the hardest practicing player on the team, always practicing to improve where his gameplay was weakest.

In other words, "talent is not a thing; it's a process." Genius is a process. Genes do play a part in genius, but not in the way we typically think. Most geniuses are made from painstaking time and effort.

"We do not inherit traits directly from our genes. Instead, we develop traits through the dynamic process of gene-environment interaction." In other words our genes are like volume knobs that are turned up or down depending on our environment. Here are some studies and their findings on this idea:

1. We are told that genes biological determine intelligence, but studies on twins show that genes account for nearly 0% of intelligence.

2. Spoken words to a child before age 3 have been shown to be a large predictor of intelligence. In a study of children in welfare homes compared to the general population there was found to be a 32 million word gap by age 4.

3. In a study on rats, environment was shown to be the great equalizer of intelligence. "Smart" rat and "dumb" rat genetic strains (based on performance in mazes) were raised in either enriched environments (painted walls and a large amount of stimulating toys: ramps, mirrors, swings, slides, bells, etc.), normal environments (normal walls and some exercise and sensory toys), or restricted environments (no mental stimulation, only food and water) and then tested to see how smart they were. The "dumb" rat strain was equally intelligent when raised in the enriched environment as the "smart" rat strain and the "smart rats" were equally as dumb as the "dumb rats" in the restricted environments.

   

4. Cloning doesn't create a perfect match in personality or ability. In fact, it basically creates a completely separate entity as demonstrated by cloned cats in 2001.

5. "Most surprisingly of all, height experts have determined that, biologically, very few ethnic groups are truly destined to be smaller or taller than other groups." Factors such as diet and disease play a much larger role.

6. Even the physical location you are born has been shown in studies to impact overall development, well... in mice anyway. Observable differences were seen in mice in different countries despite painstaking effort to make the environment as consistent as possible.

7. "The temperature surrounding turtle and crocodile eggs determined their gender."

8. "Young, yellow-skinned grasshoppers became permanently black skinned for camouflage if exposed to a blackened (burnt) environment at a certain age."

9. "Locusts living in a crowded environment developed vastly more musculature (suitable for migration) than locusts living in less crowded conditions."

   
   

Our genes impact our development, but our environment plays an equally large role. In fact, the author argues that the common nature or nurture argument is an old idea and that "we need to replace 'nature/ nurture' with 'dynamic development' as the two inseparably interact." The interaction of genes and environment create who we are. That doesn't mean that development is permanently stunted if you happened to grow up in a restricted environment. This is where genius being a process comes into play.

"In recent years, a mountain of scientific evidence has emerged that overwhelmingly suggests a completely different paradigm: not talent scarcity, but latent talent abundance." Here are some quotes and studies that speak to this point:

1. "Some assert that an individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity which cannot be increased. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism."

   -Alfred Binet, Inventor of the original IQ test

2. "98 percent of IQ test takers today score better than the average test taker in 1900."

3. Robert Sternberg, a leader in the study of human intelligence said, "Intelligence represents a set of competencies in development."

4. "Artists have a vested interest in our believing in the flash of revelation, the so-called inspiration... [shining] down from heaves as a ray of grace. In reality, the imagination of the good artist or thinker produces continuously good, mediocre, and bad things, but his judgment, trained and sharpened to a fine point, rejects, selects, connects... All great artists and thinkers [are] great workers, indefatigable not only in inventing, but also in rejecting, sifting, transforming, ordering."

   -Friedrich Nietzsche

5. Deliberate practice, the ability to tolerate and move past failure, and a desire to beat one's personal bests is a major factor in those that are considered geniuses. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell cites experts as people having spent 10,000 hours practicing a particular skill.

6. How did Kenyans get so good at running? "Kalenjin kids tend to run long distances as a practical matter, an average of eight to twelve kilometers per day from age seven." A joke among elite runners: "How can the rest of the world defuse Kenyan running superiority? Buy them school buses."

7. The book The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler talks about how extreme sports in the last 50 years have obliterated world records and achieved things that were deemed impossible by society (and professionals) over and over again. It took one person to show that what was considered unachievable was achievable and it opened the door for other athletes to follow suit.

8. "It's not that I'm so smart, it's that I stay with problems longer."

   -Albert Einstein

In other words, while genes and environment play a role in intelligence, intelligence or genius is often the accumulated impact of long hours of dedication to a particular field. Anyone can be a genius if they persist in their chosen field and dedicate more time to it at an exceptional level. Moreover, how a person perceives failure largely dictates how far they will be able to grow into genius. "Failure should be seen as a learning opportunity rather than a revelation of students' innate limits." Failure is how we learn. Avoiding failure is avoiding learning. Geniuses are those who view failure as something that can be overcome and mastered, not an insurmountable genetic barrier.

Suggestions for parents (and for ourselves really):

1. Believe - Believe in your kids ability to develop their passions and become great at what they choose to devote their time to.

2. Support, Don't Smother - Allow for failure and support growth. Watch out for putting your expectations on your kids. Neutral support, supporting them no matter their choice or outcome, is the best path.

3. Pace and Persist - Burn out happens when pressure and pace overcome passion. The desire to learn needs to be intrinsic and cultivated, not forced. Persistence is key.

4. Embrace Failure - Possibly the most important part of this entire thing. I recommend reading the books Think Again by Adam Grant and Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz to help shift your paradigm to a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. Your mindset will naturally dictate what you communicate to everyone else, including your kids.