In his argument, David Shenk attributes “climate, altitude, culture, meals, language, customs, and spirituality” to athletic success, along with “coaching, injury rate, etc.” (107). The disparity in external influences between athletes, he claims, proves that genes themselves do not create true talent. Shenk cites the Kalenjin tribe of Kenyans, who have dominated the distance running field, as an example of ideal interaction of environment with genes. Because of the cultural preference and necessity for distance running, Shenk agrees with Alexander Wolff that “coaches in Kenya can train their athletes to the outer limits of endurance. . . without worrying that their pool of talent will be meaningfully depleted. . . Even if four out of every five runners break down, the fifth will convert that training into performance” (106). However, the people of the Kalenjin tribe, all in the Great Rift Valley of western Kenya, share the same environment, and all the runners under one coach would be subject to the same coaching skills and motivation. Why, then, do Wolff’s hypothetical 20% excel under stressful conditions, while the rest get injured or plateau? What kinds of genetic mutations would allow that one fifth of the runners to reach the Olympic standard, even though they trained under the same conditions as the other four-fifths? Consider the process of cellular respiration (chapter 9 in Campbell), the circulatory system (chapter 42), the nervous system (chapter 49), and motor mechanisms (chapter 50) to identify changes in biological traits that would contribute to the success of a distance runner. Make sure to link each structural mutation to a change or improvement in function.
-Mackenzie Levy (GinnyFan@comcast.net)
David Shenk does attribute “climate, altitude, culture, meals, language, customs, and spirituality” to athletic success, along with “coaching, injury rate, etc.” (107). However, what distinguishes success from failure is the lack “something in their process – one or more aspects of style or intensity of practice, or technique, or mind-set, or response to failure” (69). Each individual is different and responds differently to certain stimuli. Once an athlete is able to find his or her way of training, that athlete will be able to continue improving. The key is to be able to train correctly and efficiently. David Brooks, the author of a New York Times Op-Ed Column on “Genius: The Modern Worldview,” said that “it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft. Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, a professor of psychology at Florida State University noted that “There are international chess masters that have below-average IQs” and even Newton attributed his theories to hard work.
ReplyDeleteAnother important factor is the individual mindset. In Hart and Risley’s experiment, the two observed children from three different types of families to see how the disparity between children from wealthy families and children from welfare families first began (45). Hart and Risley soon found out that the number of words spoken within the homes deeply affected the children, as well as the number of encouragements (47). The environment provided to the children directly affected academic success. Similarly, each individual Kenyan athlete has a different work ethic and approach to training. Children born to hard-working, professional parents are more likely to pick up their parents’ work ethic and intelligence. Therefore, the environment of the athlete is very important as well, as attitude and dedication are key components to becoming extraordinary.
Of course, this phenomenon can be explained on a cellular level as well. The body can have advantages. In cellular respiration, any part of the process will affect the output. For example, if cytochromes within a certain athlete’s body were particularly effective, then each mitochondrian would become slightly more effective, and given that a body is made of trillions of cells, that slight change can cumulate into a huge advantage (Campbell 173). Similarly in the circulatory system, the cardiac cycle deeply affects athletic ability. Stroke volume and heart rate give limitations. It takes a lot of work and perseverance to raise endurance within the body. Lance Armstrong allegedly has a resting heart rate of 32 bpm. This means that Armstrong trained for countless hours until he finally reached the peak of greatness. Similar to cellular respiration, if one small part of the circulatory becomes slightly more effective, then the whole system is affected. The capillaries perform gas exchange, providing oxygen to various tissues within the body (Campbell 909). Hemoglobin, the iron-containing protein that binds to oxygen and transports it around the body, is an important part of the circulatory system. Many athletes go train in places above sea level because more erythrocites full of hemoglobin are created. By having more erythrocytes, more oxygen is taken to the tissues, improving athletic ability. This is also why “blood doping” is illegal, as the injection increases the number of erythrocytes.
This trend continues across the whole body, encompassing the nervous system and motor mechanisms as well. The success of an individual may have to do with slight physical advantages, but most of the success is from hard work. Thomas Edison had thousands of failures before one success.
Annie Lee (xxannie.leexx@yahoo.com)