- Intelligence
- Memory
- Language
- Focus
- Bravery
- Singing
- Running
- Longevity
- Resilience
- Sleeping
- Happiness
Interesting? Yes, I was quite intrigued about what he would say. He looked at research and interviewed people. He did a nice job. It turns out a lot of things are determined by a person's genetics. They've discovered a great deal since the Human Genome project. I'm not exactly sure what that was, but I know it's pretty important.
Are the best in the world just wired that way, or can you achieve anything if you just work hard enough? I always thought and wanted it to be the latter. No. Most of the chapters said it was about 50-50 for the "Superhumans" of the world.
Growing up, I thought I could be a great runner. I worked hard at it, but there were times that people could beat me that I knew I had outworked. I've thought the same thing about playing the piano. I could be as good as Elton. However, when Elton was about six he could hear a piece of classical music and then play it back note for note. I have inferior genes.
So what is one to do? The author's advice at the end of the book is to try a bunch of stuff. Maybe you are musically inclined, or have a lot of endurance, or have great eye-hand coordination. Try out a bunch of things and see where your natural abilities might lie. (or maybe lay. I don't have good grammar genes.)
And what if you aren't a natural at a certain thing? If you like it, do it anyway. But do it because you enjoy it. Then keep doing it for the enjoyment, but don't beat your head against the wall by trying to be world class in something that isn't your thing.
So the full title is "Superhuman: Life at the Extremes of Our Capacity". I don't seem to be living life at the extremes, so I thought I might not get much out of it, but I did. It's a fun, interesting book.
No comments:
Post a Comment