Stevel

Ok, I'm new here but I had to respond to this topic. Personally, I studied Biology in university, and we are far from a blank slate when we're born (at least not in the way many on this thread have defined the word). Yes, we have potential, and we have free will, but everyone isn't born with equal potential, physical or mental. Now, before I have to go find some articles on this, I want to address this post. From reading this post, the impression that I get is that you are arguing this point not based on philosophy, nor science, but based on feeling. By that I mean, you have achieved something in your life, and you feel like other people, by subscribing to some form of biological determinism, are devaluing it. I understand that. I agree with that. I know many people who will, upon describing a particularly successful person, use works like "right place at the right time", "fortunate" and so on. Every time they do, I correct them. Yes, he was someone capable of acting, but the main point is he DID act. Many people are capable of acting, few do. Now, to interject my side of the story. I'm gifted. High IQ, was in a special class in school, blah blah blah. Of course, I have always had other problems (with motivation, etc). I can't tell you the number of times in school where I would absolutely destroy someone in marks, while I did little to no work. No, this wasn't me doing work beforehand, this was me just being able to do something better. For example, in grade 12, we had a Biology independent study project. The teacher gave us 3 chapters to learn, and a month to do it in. One person in my class studied this material every night. He had a great GPA, and was one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. I cracked open the book the day of the test. I skimmed through the material, understood it immediately, and went on to score higher than he did. I'm not saying that as a means of "bragging" because, frankly, I'm not proud of that time in my life (where I lacked motivation). I'm saying it because I want to show you that, had we all been capable of everything, had life been "fair" in the way you seem to think it is, he would have destroyed me. I'm also very good with math. I've always made intuitive leaps that sometimes confuse even my teachers. I skip steps. I never did homework. I never bothered to learn, I just... knew. The mathmatical concepts were as obvious to me as breathing is to most people. And that has nothing to do with my upbringing, my father didn't teach me math when I was very young (any more than he taught my two brothers, who are not as good as I am). It's the way my brain works, I just make connections. I have lived a life where I was good at most intellectual activities easily. Unfortunately, that comes with other problems. I never learned to work for my understanding, so when something truely difficult comes along, it's harder for me because I don't have the right study habits. What I'm trying to say is, everyone has different gifts. I never appreciated or worked for mine growing up. Yes, I have to work now (partially because of my goals in life) but that doesn't change the fact that things always came much easier for me. Except when you're talking about regulatory genes. In that case, the effect can be any number of different values, because it depends on the amount expressed, not the specific product expressed (there are surprisingly few genes involved in much of development, they are just expressed in different concentrations and combinations).