Behind Intelligence
My first semester at college, I was at Oklahoma State University taking Chemistry as one of my very first classes at a university. To say the least, the class had about 300 kids in it and I found learning a science in this environment was a tough task. Whether it was the kid behind me that sounded like a cow eating grass smacking on his gum or the fact that due to the large population of the class, the professor liked to just lecture and have us go home to study and practice problems. I failed this class miserably. This devastated me because for the longest time I had always believed I was a smart kid. It wasn't until I got through this first semester that I began to realize that my ignorance to how a big university works was my downfall. At a place where class size is very large, using utilities that are provided is a must. There are free tutor sessions, office hours, and RA sessions that have been proven to improve students grades and I chose not to use any of these. From then on I realized at some point I had to stop relying on natural intelligence and actually put in work in order to achieve the grade that was needed. The next semester i took the same class but used my resources and passed the class.
Intelligence from a genetics standpoint, has a lot to do with a baseline that one is born with that is inherited from their parents. There are genes that cause high intelligence called Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP's) and the presence of these shown that these genes have shown a higher intelligence in childhood as well as old age. Some presence of certain alleles in genes can have an adverse effect on the intelligence on man. In the gene called APOE, Ian J. Deary explains "people with one or two e4 alleles of this gene tend to have lower cognitive ability in old age, and tend to decline more in cognition across their lifetimes, than those who lack e4." But like a muscle with the proper nourishment and exercise the intelligence on a person can be strengthened. Things like nutrition, good home environment, parenting, education, as well as availability of learning resources has to do with fulfilling a full potential of a human. Diane Swanbrow, director of communications at U-M's Institute of Social Research states "Class and race differences starting in early infancy combine with neighborhood, cultural and educational differences that widen this gap."
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most interesting men in human history, born in the renaissance in 1452 to a local peasant, Leonardo's future was not seen bright. He was an unclaimed bastard son to an illegitimate lawyer and was deemed unfit to go to school. He caught the eye of his future master named Verrocchio while he was teaching class because he would be watching him through the window. From there he went from village idiot to one of the greatest minds to live. Verrocchio needed something that would make him remembered and Leonardo was it. He thought if he could take this kid who wasn't even in school and make him a genius, he would be a truly great master. Leonardo then went on to not only shadow but to live with his master learning everything he did. Soon Leonardo was deemed a master himself in Arts. He then went on to become a master in things like engineering and anatomy which Verrocchio was not a master in. This goes to show that ones environment has a lot to do with intelligence. It is believed that just by convincing someone they are smart has a positive outcome on things like education and task handling further strengthening the nurture side of intelligence.
Intelligence from a genetics standpoint, has a lot to do with a baseline that one is born with that is inherited from their parents. There are genes that cause high intelligence called Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP's) and the presence of these shown that these genes have shown a higher intelligence in childhood as well as old age. Some presence of certain alleles in genes can have an adverse effect on the intelligence on man. In the gene called APOE, Ian J. Deary explains "people with one or two e4 alleles of this gene tend to have lower cognitive ability in old age, and tend to decline more in cognition across their lifetimes, than those who lack e4." But like a muscle with the proper nourishment and exercise the intelligence on a person can be strengthened. Things like nutrition, good home environment, parenting, education, as well as availability of learning resources has to do with fulfilling a full potential of a human. Diane Swanbrow, director of communications at U-M's Institute of Social Research states "Class and race differences starting in early infancy combine with neighborhood, cultural and educational differences that widen this gap." 
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most interesting men in human history, born in the renaissance in 1452 to a local peasant, Leonardo's future was not seen bright. He was an unclaimed bastard son to an illegitimate lawyer and was deemed unfit to go to school. He caught the eye of his future master named Verrocchio while he was teaching class because he would be watching him through the window. From there he went from village idiot to one of the greatest minds to live. Verrocchio needed something that would make him remembered and Leonardo was it. He thought if he could take this kid who wasn't even in school and make him a genius, he would be a truly great master. Leonardo then went on to not only shadow but to live with his master learning everything he did. Soon Leonardo was deemed a master himself in Arts. He then went on to become a master in things like engineering and anatomy which Verrocchio was not a master in. This goes to show that ones environment has a lot to do with intelligence. It is believed that just by convincing someone they are smart has a positive outcome on things like education and task handling further strengthening the nurture side of intelligence.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/da_vinci_leonardo.shtml
Calvin Brown, department of fine arts, Hardin Simmons University
Jason,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved reading this blog post, you really know how to engage with the readers! The beginning was so interesting, and it flowed so well. I also loved how you brought up Da Vinci, I learned so much by reading this and found out things I have never thought about before. Nice blog!