Nature or Nurture?

People underestimate the nurture side though
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There is quite a lot of research around now to suggest that the influence of nurture has been hugely undervalued in western culture, because we like the narrative of the natural-born super-hero.

We like to think that they worked hard to develop their talents, and we tend to asssume that they did so nmore than their peers (eg. Footballers banging on about kicking a ball in the street long into the night....yawn...so did lots of other kids, but they didn’t all become professionals)

But the influence of environment, and other chance factors, are largely discounbted in western culture. For example, a study was done of professional ice-hockey players in Canada, and it was found that a large proportion of them were born early in the calendar year.

This is because the junior game is orgamised into age-groups, and somebody born in December finds himself competing with somebody born in January of the same year. At that age, 10-11 months can make for a substantial differential in mental and physical development, and the player born in January is then taken onto an elite development program, so the gap widens.

A further study was then done of the Czech national football team, and the same thing was found (though obviously the cut-off was the football season, which doesn’t coincide with the calendar year). The dsame thing was found; there was a much higher incidence of players born early in the season.

This is just one factor of many.The same happens with school: children born towards the end of the school-year are at quite a big developmental disadvantage.

At the extreme end of the nurture scale is the Royal Family: because they are all as thick as pigsh.it, and so un-talented as to be practically useless, yet they find themselves at the top of the social hierarchy, with vast wealth.

You ccould argue they inherited the qualities that promoted the fortunes of their family, but the ability to fvck somebody rich is not passed down genetically, and that’s how most of them did it.
If Prince Charles wasn’t a prince, he’d be lucky to get anybody to fvck him at all, so he wouldn’ t have any kids, and he’d be lucky to get a job sweeping the floor in Maccy D’s.

Malcom Gladwell is very interesting on this subject (in his book ‘Outliers’ ), and there’s another bestseller on the subject called ‘Bounce’., by Matthew Syed. But there’s loads of research, and loads of literature, about it.

Take Rooney and Ronaldo. I would say Rooney had more natural talent when they were both younger, but Ronaldo was the one that committed himself to becoming as good as he could be, while Rooney let himself down with the faggs, booze and grannies.

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Yes he is. Ronaldo is currently the best footballer in the world as evidenced by him being the current holder of the Ballon D'or.

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I didn't vote for him.

I'm not sure if nature is more important but if it's definitely what makes the difference in my eyes.

Without great natural ability I don't see a player being able to become world class. If it was all about nurture then there wouldn't really be levels, it all be about what youth system you came from and what team you play for

Both important, impossible to say which is more important.

Some top players are absolute physical beasts that no matter how hard others try they couldn't possibly replicate, whether it be power, pace or whatever they have naturally got.

Other players have clearly absolutely maximised their limited physical traits to forge a fantastic career for themselves. Then again, some of that might be down to natural mental strength.

The mental side of the game is still one that is underplayed compared to the physical side. Natural mental ability to deal with failure, replicate successes and be at your best when it matters most are just as important as natural physical traits.

The mental side of the game is still one that is underplayed compared to the physical side. Natural mental ability to deal with failure, replicate successes and be at your best when it matters most are just as important as natural physical traits.
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Good point. Takes a strong mentality to be world class, especially in terms of consistency.

nature by 8,381 country miles

great players are born not made

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