Yes. Raw ability enough. I was a poor kid in rural Wisconsin. Few books in apartment (all fiction); single mom read Cosmo. Public library changed my life. Read 1000s of books from 3rd through 9th grade and ended up a National Merit Scholar, & attending two elite universities.
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What an awesome story!
#TrueGrit -
As they say, genius finds a way.
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Please can you all read this Tweetorial from one of our best geneticists? Heritability doesn't mean what you think it means. It's admirable that you achieved so much, but it doesn't mean "genius always finds a way".https://twitter.com/ProfSimonFisher/status/986923915481178113?s=19 …
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My tweet didn't have "always". I don't know why you link me to that. None of this is new to me.
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Because you cite heritability estimates as evidence for lack of environmental effect on an individual's behaviour. The tweetorial explains why its a category error. Great if you already know this - most people don't. Sorry if I misunderstood your point ;)
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Sounds like more word games.
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No. Crucial to grasp & communicate the key difference. Otherwise some will (and do) use high HEs as excuse not to spend money on education & public health. We scientists have to be mindful of how our work can be misinterpreted by policy makers.
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My husband and and I are both voracious readers. Despite constant exposure to print, our adoptive son was slower than average in learning to read and does not like reading. N=1, but I agree.
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The study found a shared environment effect of 0-1%, meaning that at most 1% of variation in reading ability could be attributed to environment children share growing up. I wouldn't feel bad about your experience, it is simply not something one can do much about.
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Thanks. It’s a good thing I read Pinker’s Blank State the week we adopted him so I had realistic expectations.
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Environment/nurture is probably more impactful in skills you usually have to start early to be great at (e.g., piano playing).
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Sounds like trying to extrapolate indirectly from extreme outliers (piano prodigies). I would expect piano ability to be highly heritable if measured well.
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I would too, partly because a pianist is likely to start training his children young (early training being a necessary but insufficient condition).
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I think people underestimate the homogeneity of contemporary environments, as well. Pretty much everybody in OECD countries has access to vast opportunities and a range of very powerful (but often self-chosen) stimuli via mass media. Wasn’t always true in the same way.
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Action + time, within geography, leads to the social environment.
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The interesting question is whether the genome DIRECTLTY causes ability or merely causes environments which cause ability.
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Is this likely the reason for higher adult h2?
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Yes what you said, which in turn creates wider bandwidth for Baldwin Effect
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