When Matthew Rose was 17, a teacher suggested that he become an opera singer. Since he was floundering at swimming and golfing – his first two adolescent passions – he submitted to five years of vocal training. Rose now performs leading roles at some of the world’s major opera houses.
He knows why he succeeded. “Language skills, musical skills,” he reckons, recalling all the hours of hard work and dismissing the role of genetics. Rose is a case study in Rowan Hooper’s Superhuman. Hooper, who is managing editor at żěè¶ĚĘÓƵ, isn’t convinced by Rose’s explanations, but nor does he believe in reductionist notions that Rose’s greatness is directly encoded in his DNA.
In the excellent Superhuman, Hooper seeks out some of the world’s highest achievers in myriad fields, from chess to running to warfare – as well as the scientists studying the extremes of human capability – to reframe the old debate. “It’s never genes or environment,” he writes, “it is always both things, together.”
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Ten-thousand hour rule
Chess is a perfect example. Grandmasters practice incessantly, and their obsessive preparations exemplify the so-called 10,000-hour rule. Originating with Florida State University psychologist Anders Ericsson and popularised by journalist Malcolm Gladwell, the claim was that expertise in any field can be attained through 10,000 hours of practice.
Cognitive measurements, however, have shown that chess savvy also correlates with IQ. As Hooper explains, the genetic edge provided by good memory and pattern recognition are as pertinent as the hours of toil.
None of this will be especially surprising to avid readers of good pop-sci books and magazines, where nature vs nurture is still a common theme. What distinguishes Hooper is his effort to relate the science to individual achievers, and seek their personal perspective. And he is keen to discover (or at least speculate on) what all this potential might mean for our collective future.
How they see themselves
Subjects range from Booker prizewinner Hilary Mantel to hyperpolyglot Alexander Arguelles, currently proficient in 50 languages. As absorbing as these interviews are in their own right, their greater significance is to reveal the gap between how these people perceive themselves and how scientists see them.
In some instances, such as Mantel’s richly nuanced self-reflection, the insights may suggest new avenues of research. In others, such as Rose’s encomium to intensive training, Hooper perceives blind spots that may blinker all of society. “The unwillingness to accept a genetic influence in what we do could be ideological,” Hooper observes. “No one likes the idea that genes control our destiny.”
Hooper’s response to this ideological bias is blunt. “Accept the evidence, and be empowered,” he asserts in the conclusion to his book, arguing that empowerment comes out of acknowledging limitations and focusing on personal strengths.
The power of practice
Happily, the bulk of Superhuman presents a more open-ended story, revealing the complex interplay of nature and nurture, where unforeseen strengths may originate through unexpected means.
Even training involves more than meets the eye. As Hooper reports, genetics strongly influences the drive to practice. Rose may be wrong about his talent, but he’s also right – and if he tires of opera houses, he may yet have a future on the golf course.
by Rowan Hooper (Little, Brown)
Jonathon Keats’s latest book is You Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the future (Oxford University Press)
