Is human potential the same for everyone?

[KnowLedge]

“Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, “I am of no value”, is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought – so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.” – Dalai Lama

Now, do you think he is correct? Is everyone capable of becoming a musician? is everyone capable of becoming a doctor? or a football player? is Dalai Lama correct when he says that everyone is capable of doing everything, you just needs the willpower.

discuss

[MEZZANINE]

Tis the old argument between Nature and Nurture.

Truth is both play a part, nurture is very important because it is the part we have some control over, our upbringing, where we live, education, exercise, diet etc, determine how much of our potential we achieve. Although even nurture is limited by your starting position, where you are born, how much money your family has, what family commitments you have by way of having to work at a young age or look after relatives. Nature does play a part, people are NOT equal, some are smarter, some are physically stronger / healthier, different heights, lung capacities, more predisposed to illness etc and although some elements of our natural abilities can be overcome by working harder, there are elements that cant be overcome.

IQ tests dont test knowledge or rely on education, and IQ varies greatly. Artistic and creative qualities and far harder to measure but all mental abilities and potentials vary in the same way IQ does.

Physical potential is more obvious, just look around, look at the the variety of shapes & sizes of people, look at those who suffer from congenital illness despite healthy lifestyles and those lucky enough to be healthy even though they abuse their bodies with poor lifestyles.

[Eelyzabth]

everybody is capable of learning to do anything... to a certain degree, but to be truly GOOD at anything, you need 2 things 1) a natural predisposition and 2) passion

You can passionately want to be a muscian, but if you are tone deaf, the best you will manage is average

You can be a natural born artist, but without passion your art will be souless

however the Dalai Lama's words should be inspiring to anyone who wants to do something with a passion, or needs to learn something they find boring (like geography...) because what he is saying is basically this : If you don't try, you will never succeed

[Jack]

Everyone has potential. To say that everyone has the same potential or equal potential is just down right retarded.

Like Lizz said, not everyone has potential to be an artist. Someone might make a great football player, but a horrible mathematician for example.

[GrizzZzzly]

All very well but lets take football as an example. when we consider a talented football player and a not so talented football player. The potential of the talented footballer is greater. However how close to his potential will the talented player become? Not even close. Sure if both player trained equally, ate the same food etc you'd think the talented player would far exceed the less talented player. But then lets think again, what makes a good football player? skill with the ball? awareness? physical ability/acceleration/aggressiveness? mental strength? So many factors to consider when judging who has more potential or is more talented. Most coaches have a specific fashion of training so depending on their specific priorities in training, some footballers will outshine the others. Now all of a sudden it's less clear who really has more potential.

All jobs, sports, activities require multiple skills, which in turn might also require skills and so on and so forth.

[KnowLedge]

I strongly do not consider athletic intelligence as intelligence that we can use to measure potential, simply because anyone can be an athlete (just need practice). If one stops all work and concentrates on being a soccer player, than I am positive that one will be good enough to join EPL..

for some reason I can never see people having different potentials, even though it may have been proven. I think if one stops everything and concentrate on the one thing that they want to accomplish, then its very much possible even for the biggest idiot.

to me, all one needs is practice and willpower!

[Jim]

At this point I would like to take the example of Juggling.

I have dyspraxia so my hand eye co-ordination is terrible. It always has been. One day I decided I wanted to learn to juggle and 3 days later I could.

I then decided to teach a number of my friends who all decided "I cant to do it, my hand eye co-ordination is too bad." I said yeah whatever and gave up on them.

Then a friend of mine that is blind in one eye decided to give it a try. He said "I dont have depth perception at all because I only have one eye" I said, "Thats fair enough and makes sense, but I think you can do it." He kept trying and now he is as good as me.

Now if anyone says "I cant learn, my hand eye co-ordination is too bad" I say, "Shut the hell up, I can do it with a minor disability and he can do it with only one eye."

All it takes to learn is time and effort. Time and effort may vary for some people but everyone can do it. Man up and try.

[jedi~tank]

We all have different gifts, different trains of thought..some people have locked potential and some unlocked..do not think athleticism requires less thought than say math..it takes the will to endure physical hardship to be an actual athlete which in turn requires mental discipline which is predicated on in depth thought. I dont think any opinion in this area is retarded.

[KnowLedge]

exactly, most of us here agree that anything can be accomplished with some practice. yes some people can be gifted to think outside the box like Einstein, but with a little bit of practice.. we all can. Yes some people are good with math, but with some practice we all can..

why then does science say that everyone's potential is different.. this is something is so wrong to me. because we all have had experiences where we thought we have no potential in that matter, yet we can practice for a couple of days and get really good at it for some reason.

[ljietuvis]

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steven_pinker_chalks_it_up_to_the_blank_slate.html

[MEZZANINE]

exactly, most of us here agree that anything can be accomplished with some practice. yes some people can be gifted to think outside the box like Einstein, but with a little bit of practice.. we all can. Yes some people are good with math, but with some practice we all can..

why then does science say that everyone's potential is different.. this is something is so wrong to me. because we all have had experiences where we thought we have no potential in that matter, yet we can practice for a couple of days and get really good at it for some reason.

Think you need to re-read the earlier posts, you clearly have no natural aptitude for this subject and will need to put in much more effort to achieve the same understanding of those who do

[KnowLedge]

exactly, most of us here agree that anything can be accomplished with some practice. yes some people can be gifted to think outside the box like Einstein, but with a little bit of practice.. we all can. Yes some people are good with math, but with some practice we all can..

why then does science say that everyone's potential is different.. this is something is so wrong to me. because we all have had experiences where we thought we have no potential in that matter, yet we can practice for a couple of days and get really good at it for some reason.

Think you need to re-read the earlier posts, you clearly have no natural aptitude for this subject and will need to put in much more effort to achieve the same understanding of those who do

are you calling me stupid?
at least im not so attracted by a computer game to have been playing it in my adult age for 5-6 years now. Midlife crises anyone?

but seriously, I did read your post and I don't see how you can be more knowledgeable then me on the subject, seeing as I am the OP and obviously have wondered and discussed this with others.

so tell me what makes me unknowable? did you even understand my post/ideas?..
or does lack of understanding force you to insult?

[MEZZANINE]

exactly, most of us here agree that anything can be accomplished with some practice. yes some people can be gifted to think outside the box like Einstein, but with a little bit of practice.. we all can. Yes some people are good with math, but with some practice we all can..

why then does science say that everyone's potential is different.. this is something is so wrong to me. because we all have had experiences where we thought we have no potential in that matter, yet we can practice for a couple of days and get really good at it for some reason.

Think you need to re-read the earlier posts, you clearly have no natural aptitude for this subject and will need to put in much more effort to achieve the same understanding of those who do

are you calling me stupid?
at least im not so attracted by a computer game to have been playing it in my adult age for 5-6 years now. Midlife crises anyone?

but seriously, I did read your post and I don't see how you can be more knowledgeable then me on the subject, seeing as I am the OP and obviously have wondered and discussed this with others.

so tell me what makes me unknowable? did you even understand my post/ideas?..
or does lack of understanding force you to insult?

lol It has nothing to do with stupid or clever mate, I was just making a point in a joke, some people have natural aptitude or ability in some area's or subjects.

Im sure there are things I am naturally good at and you are not, and things you are naturally good at that I am not, doesnt mean we cant do the things that dont come naturally to us, just means those things require far more effort and if equal effort put in by both in the same subject the one with natural ability will achieve more.


As for your comment about playing this game to long I agree, but that applies to half the people in this forum, and when my midlife crisis comes you'll see me posting pictures of my shiny new Porsche

[GrizzZzzly]

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steven_pinker_chalks_it_up_to_the_blank_slate.html

Yes. Very broad but thats more like it.

[KnowLedge]

I guess Im not good with sarcasm.. much like Sheldon from the big bang theory..

I highly doubt there is something you can do well from the start without 'learning' it.. I think it all depends on the growth of that being..
but I think the answer lies in the link that GrizzZzzly posted.. I shall watch it later
I like the link, thanks GrizzZzzly,

exactly, most of us here agree that anything can be accomplished with some practice. yes some people can be gifted to think outside the box like Einstein, but with a little bit of practice.. we all can. Yes some people are good with math, but with some practice we all can..

why then does science say that everyone's potential is different.. this is something is so wrong to me. because we all have had experiences where we thought we have no potential in that matter, yet we can practice for a couple of days and get really good at it for some reason.

Think you need to re-read the earlier posts, you clearly have no natural aptitude for this subject and will need to put in much more effort to achieve the same understanding of those who do

are you calling me stupid?
at least im not so attracted by a computer game to have been playing it in my adult age for 5-6 years now. Midlife crises anyone?

but seriously, I did read your post and I don't see how you can be more knowledgeable then me on the subject, seeing as I am the OP and obviously have wondered and discussed this with others.

so tell me what makes me unknowable? did you even understand my post/ideas?..
or does lack of understanding force you to insult?

lol It has nothing to do with stupid or clever mate, I was just making a point in a joke, some people have natural aptitude or ability in some area's or subjects.

Im sure there are things I am naturally good at and you are not, and things you are naturally good at that I am not, doesnt mean we cant do the things that dont come naturally to us, just means those things require far more effort and if equal effort put in by both in the same subject the one with natural ability will achieve more.


As for your comment about playing this game to long I agree, but that applies to half the people in this forum, and when my midlife crisis comes you'll see me posting pictures of my shiny new Porsche