DescentBB

Can someone be totally different than another person, or are we all pretty much the same no matter what we do?

Grades are a pretty good example, With the exception of a few outliers. If someone who gets all D's in school began to work as hard as someone who gets straight A's, he would get straight A's too.

If anyone trained as hard as any olympic competitor, they could be in that very same position.

Basically what I'm saying here is everyone more or less has the same potential (with the exception of outliers) and how far you get is the amount you exert yourself.

No, people can only be equal in concept, such as …”equal under the law”.

Beyond that…there is no such thing as “equal”.

Effort can make quite a difference to your grades, but there's no doubt that it's not the only thing that determines them. If your IQ is 70, getting straight As is going to be tough no matter what you do.

P.S. The other thing which I have noticed with many of the really top athletes is that they often have curious physical/physiological features that partially explain their success. I don't think for a moment that the reason people struggle to match Usain Bolt is because they don't try hard enough... more than likely he is just built better than they are.

Look at the difference in height in the population as a whole for an example.

Some Olympic athletes are short and light, while other Olympic athletes are tall and heavy. Training plays some part in it, but a lot of times someone only makes it to the Olympics if they were born with the correct build traits for the sport they compete in. Olympic athletes are probably a bad example since they are definitely on the fringe. Humans have an average, but even identical twins raised the same will have differences.

Remember that you are unique...just like everyone else.

Spaceboy wrote:Basically what I'm saying here is everyone more or less has the same potential (with the exception of outliers) and how far you get is the amount you exert yourself.

No, I don't think everyone has the same potential. Some people have more talent than others to do some particular thing.

Of course, some people have the talent, but do not apply themselves and hence fail to reach their potential. Some people with less talent can achieve results that seem beyond their potential by dint of hard work. So, the results of anyone's potential are the combination of their talent with their will to work hard to whatever it is they have a talent for.

Yeah that was kind of a strange comment.

Compare my brother and I. I am built shorter, stockier. He is taller, and more wiry. He can outrun me no problem, but I have always been able to beat him in a sprint. If we were both training to be sprinters, I have a natural advantage.

I saw the same thing when we used to be in college together. I would spend 2-3x longer time studying and get a lower grade then him.

Back in the middle 80's, a movie came out called American Flyers about two brothers participating in bicycle races (I think in Colorado or at least sponsored by Coors beer). During one part in the movie, the brothers and other bicyclists are being evaluted in a controlled environment where their cardio capacity and other qualities were being evaluated. The one brother amazed everyone with his inherent cardio ability. This was the first time it occurred to me that success is sports is sometimes more than just conditioning and effort.

The bottom line is that some people are genetically better than others when it comes to cardio and muscular ability. It doesn't mean that these people will always be better or always win - but it does give them a better launching point.

In the move Gataca, the one brother is 'superior' to the other. Yet, when they compete swimming out in open water, the 'disadvantaged' brother wins (twice during the movie). His conditioning and mental fortitude allows him to succeed.

Person A gains weight from eating loads of food and lack of exercise - While Person B has a faster metabolism and thus gains no weight (or even loses some) from eating the same amount of food. Physically, we can be different in almost every aspect. Person B would be no fitter than Person A, but due to the bodies differences it's entirely possible that Person B would be able to get back into shape with 2-3 times less effort. I see no reason why this cannot be applied to 'mental differences' too.

People are different in cultural, economic, and social ways. Combine this with genetic traits such as intelligence and physical appearance and it appears as a species that we seem to be acting no different than our ancient ancestors did eons ago. So in a way we are the same in that aspect.

Instead of bashing each other over the head with clubs and burning with fire we have \"advanced\" to Guns 'n Nukes. Current Wars aside, I think that if the Human Race doesn't get it's act together soon we will tear ourselves apart like countless great Civilizations have done before us.

There is plenty of food, water, and Clean Energy for everyone. I think as a species we can do a whole lot more with what we have, such as treat our Planet and its resources more like the beautiful gem that they are and hopefully learn that there is more to Life than oil prices, war, money, and consumer consumption.

My 2¢