Genes, Talent, Deliberate Practice, and PJ Ladd

Disclaimer: This may seem tedious, but it is extremely relevant to the next post and connects to a very hardworking skateboarder.

Most people think of talent as something we're either born with or not. Most have the notion that our genes are a set of blueprints that determine who and what we will become. Under this old model, genes hold predetermined character traits that dominate our development. Under this model, WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHO WE BECOME. External environmental factors only slightly explain our final product. This is known as the Genes + Environment Theory.

Fortunately, it turns out that talent is not something you're simply born with; it is something that you must achieve through extremely hard work. Under this relatively new understanding of talent, genes are not the only thing that determine who and what we become. We do not inherit traits based on our genes themselves. From the moment we're born, our external environment interacts with our genes to develop traits through the process of gene-environment interaction. This new model is known as Genes X Environment. Our cells contain DNA. Each of these DNA contain many thousands of genes. These genes in turn assemble amino acids into proteins that help to create cells. The cells are responsible for building muscle and other tissue like eyeball collagen. Our genes are constantly activated and deactivated by external stimulus(hence the environment), such as nutrition and our peers. Our day-to-day lives are responsible for our individual genetic makeups under this model. For protein construction to be enabled, our genes must be switched on, or activated. Interestingly, the same gene can produce different proteins in one's life, depending on the time it was activated and how it was activated. This means that under the model of Gene Environmental interaction as a dynamic duo, all of us are custom-made individuals based on our unique circumstances and interactions with the environment.

The concept of Genes x Environment determines our emotional state, health status, lifestyle, who our friends are, and even what our favorite ledge and flatground tricks are. Next Time: Genes X Environment is a crucial part of PJ Ladd's transformation into a world class skateboarder.

Source: The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk

Perspectives

I think everyone has his own views and perspectives on skateboarding. Part of what determines your personal viewpoint is your peers and the environment around you. I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up skating in Boston. I back almost everyone who skates in the city. Most of my fellow skaters give off great vibes and skate all day. As my friend Waffle put it, "All of us skate all the time and we're all little skate rats." Waffle's words are a testament to the fact that most of the time people are skating the city for the love of it. Many crazy tricks go down but usually without a camera. You can usually find the filmers skating much more than they actually film. It's great! Sure people film a little but most of the great memories of skating in the city didn't involve a camera at all.

Oftentimes I will space out in a tedious environment, like my statistics class, and think consciously or subconsciously about skateboarding. I want to use this blog as a medium to bring these subconscious thoughts into the conscious realm of the internet user. Inspirations for this blog will come from my peers and my environment. So definitely look forward to some interviews in the near future. But I also want to draw inspiration from other sources such as the radio, books, and all different types of media that haven't been compared to skateboarding too much before. I'm hopeful people will take an interest in this blog and I'm excited to see what the future holds!

-Will

Me doing what I love most:

Video: Jon Wolf