In Bale's Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About It, alongside the picture of the Jamaican and Kenyan runners excelling, The author then mentions an interesting aspect of sports reflected by Paul Gallico that different ethnic groups in different locations have always for some reason excelled at sports, one case being the "Great Jewish basketball players from the ghettos of Philadelphia and New York", going on to explain the reason for such success was the idea that "basketball appeals to the Hebrew with his Oriental background [...] [placing] an emphasis on alert, scheming mind"(298). Although such a statement sounds politically incorrect by today's standards, the stement emphasizes the imprint of a strong culture rather then a strong individualistic influence on environment. The book's author then goes on at another point to then emphasize the influence of individualistic competition on the success of the individual (293). How can the effect of relative culture (compared to the relative ethnicity) of those in the sporting world be compared with its probable effect on the environment in GxE relative to the probable effect/cause of individualistic drive using evidence from the book and from other sources.
alex.nye95@gmail.com (Alex Nye)
Culture is factor based on the environment. What the environment regards as the “survival” gene, it brings out or a better phrase enhances that gene needed for survival. This is how “culture” can provide an area where those traits can be brought out. For the Kenyans, they regard long-distance running as their national identity gene leaving the children to bring out the make-up of this physical skills to a higher level than those that regard athletics only as a minor skill (103). More examples of those involved in the sporting world involved with their culture could be the Hispanics who are usually associated with being skilled in soccer. (http://brainrageblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/mexicans-are-really-good-at-soccer.html). This is because by culture based orientation, soccer is a family friendly, neighbor inviting, open communicative sport. It’s an outreach sport allowing for many members to join. For the Hispanics, who are known to be very family-oriented, soccer is what their culture considers the ideal sport, making the offspring and the nationality to “want” to be more physically enabled to play better.
ReplyDeleteThe individualistic drive is oriented by the want of acceptance and attention to get farther than others. This is driven by the mentality of “I can get there if I try harder”, which is brought back to the growth-mind. The drive influenced by the culture/society trying to bring out and influence/“foster” these values in people because it’s a certain way of bringing out competition. And a little competition can be good. This mindset leads to the growth-mind set over the fixed-mind set can be brought by the attention of the environment. This can be expressed by interdependence in nature as well as because, how the environment is made up and what society has pressured on the individuals, can change how a person/gene can process. It’s also what the society offers as a mean for someone/thing to grow. It’s a way of bringing out competition. A little competition can be good.
Another example is the American sport of baseball. Each team continues to not only verse other teams but each other as well. Having the urge to be MVP in your own baseball “society”/ “culture” creates a growth and a drive to be better. (http://www.philliesnetwork.com/?p=6229)
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