This blog post isn’t really about biology or genius. It’s about how what we are is largely biological. Really, it's about a discussion I keep having with students. Those who are college-age seem to be under the illusion that genius is the product of hard work.
I have asked why they think this. “That’s what we were taught,” one student told me. Their generation scoffs at the notion they were raised with that “everyone gets a trophy.” Yet, they kind of believe it: the playing field is level, we all start with the same smarts and abilities, and then it’s just a matter of applying oneself.
So that’s it? Michael Jordan worked the hardest? All those players in the NBA just didn’t put forth enough effort? Being the GOAT was his reward for all the hard work? It couldn’t be that he had abilities that were beyond anyone else’s. And if that’s true—and it certainly seems to be the case—then we have to look at what he was born with.
Needless to say, if you’re born with something—eye color, for example—it was baked into the cake. And it was biology that put it there. What made Michael Jordan a great basketball player was his biology. Now, I am not the person to delineate the why and what of Jordan’s greatness. It has been through conversations with people who are knowledgeable on the subject that I have acquired a sense of the details.
But I could list people who, like Jordan, had preternatural abilities: Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, Mozart, Einstein, Bobby Fischer, Noam Chomsky, Prince, Simone Biles, the list goes on. These people worked very hard to achieve what they did; but working hard won’t necessarily get one to those heights.
And really, the point is not genius. The point is where we peak. For example, I’m a lousy chess player. I could get better. I could improve. But with serious work and dedication I will only achieve the height of mediocrity. I will only peak at middling. That’s as good as it’s going to get, I’m afraid.
But I could get better. B-E-T-T-E-R. And that’s the point. Anyone can basically learn how to do anything. I’m disabled, so pole vaulting is probably out of the question. But you get my point. Anyone can more or less learn anything. You can learn how to play the guitar. Are you going to be as good as Jeff Beck? I have my doubts.
However, you could get better. And better. Where you max out might be disappointing. But that does not mean you should not learn to play. If you want to, do it. Letting Jeff Beck’s greatness stop you is silly.
There is a cruel corollary that is concomitant with this line of thinking. It’s the assertion that one’s location on the income distribution is a reflection of one’s effort. Wealth = hard work. Poverty = laziness. You get out what you put in.
Again, the playing field is level, there is no such thing as privilege or a tailwind. We all operate in a vacuum where the only thing that distinguishes one person from another is the effort made. A society that thinks this way is a vicious one.
In the case of ability or talent, we must look toward the native. Much of what we are is biological. Our intelligence. Our talents. And a good portion of our personality.
People in philosophy lose their minds at the mere mention of the word “determination.” But much of what we are is precisely that. We are linguistic. We have a moral conscience. I would also argue humans have a biological leaning toward the spiritual. And all the stuff I mentioned above. It’s biological, like having kidneys.
This does not mean our choices are determined. That one is up to you. You can learn, for example, to play chess. And while you’re learning, I’d be glad to play you. Until, of course, you get better than me—which won’t take long.
