- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,553
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Here's the reality:
Let's first define "talented athlete". This is a person who, at a natural level, possesses superior balance and reflexes. She/he will very likely have a higher twitch muscle percentage increasing limb speed and reaction time. She/he may even have genetic irregularities such as extra height, longer limb to trunk ratio, superior eyesight, long fingers, ect. This is not something that can ever be trained or taught.
Now, if you take athlete A, who is a "talented athlete" as defined above, and athlete B, separate them, but put them through the exact same training and practice regimen for their entire life, expose them to the same levels of competition and the same coaches/trainers, which do you think will possess the superior performance in the end?
Surely extra practice, strong will, and better coaches can help the non talented athlete achieve higher degrees of success, however the talented athlete also has access to such things. This being the case, the stronger athlete will be the one with the most access.
What we end up is a situation where society does its best to increase the skill level of the general populace in order to provide enough competition for the talented among us to prove their worth and emerge. Without raising the baseline, there would be no reason for the talented to try harder. Everyone benefits in the end.
-W
Let's first define "talented athlete". This is a person who, at a natural level, possesses superior balance and reflexes. She/he will very likely have a higher twitch muscle percentage increasing limb speed and reaction time. She/he may even have genetic irregularities such as extra height, longer limb to trunk ratio, superior eyesight, long fingers, ect. This is not something that can ever be trained or taught.
Now, if you take athlete A, who is a "talented athlete" as defined above, and athlete B, separate them, but put them through the exact same training and practice regimen for their entire life, expose them to the same levels of competition and the same coaches/trainers, which do you think will possess the superior performance in the end?
Surely extra practice, strong will, and better coaches can help the non talented athlete achieve higher degrees of success, however the talented athlete also has access to such things. This being the case, the stronger athlete will be the one with the most access.
What we end up is a situation where society does its best to increase the skill level of the general populace in order to provide enough competition for the talented among us to prove their worth and emerge. Without raising the baseline, there would be no reason for the talented to try harder. Everyone benefits in the end.
-W