Rating: 3 stars

David Shenk’s newest book sets out to bust the myth of genetics, talent and IQ. Boldly stating that who your parents are have very little impact on who you are—or I should say, who you could be. Going further, Shenk also puts the Nature vs. Nurture debate into perspective by saying it’s not one or the other, but a combination. I don’t know if that in itself is ground-breaking news, but we’ll go with it.

Joining the ranks of Marcus Buckingham, Geoff Colvin, Daniel Coyne and, to a point, Malcolm Gladwell, Shenk discusses long-term dedication, perseverance and years of hard work as being the key to success—not innate talent. This, I wholeheartedly agree with; as I’m sure all those “over-night successes” will too. Just like anybody can ride a bike, it’s not what makes Lance Armstrong a champion. As always, there are exceptions to every rule and people do possess incredible innate gifts; however, they too must nurture those gifts through hard work and practice, just like anybody else.

The one area I had an issue with was IQ (actual intelligence, not a score on a test). Shenk states that intelligence is a process, not a thing and therefore can be improved; which, is a perfectly valid statement. There are many documented experiments to support this, such as two parents with no special abilities, home-schooled and raised three (female) world champion chess players. However, I have yet to see two “normal” parents create a rocket scientist out of child who didn’t already have the propensity for it. I feel the same way about inventions like the telephone or fax; no doubt you could teach someone to create them and understand how they work, but given the opportunity there are probably very few who could figure it out on their own.

Interesting and informative, The Genius in All of Us, was very well done. I was especially happy about the “Prodigies and Late Bloomers” chapter, which noted that new potential and abilities can appear during any phase of a person’s life. It's good to know that I still have something to look forward to.
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Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (March 9, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0385523653