The Genius in All of Us

4 Ways to Guide Your Child Toward Excellence

2010-03-10T11:50:20-05:00

A cut-to-the-quick snippet from my book on Babble.com.

Welcome to GENIUS

2010-03-09T09:30:00-05:00

Is true greatness obtainable from everyday means and everyday genes? Conventional wisdom says no, that a lucky few are simply born with certain gifts while most are not; that talent and high intelligence are somewhat scarce gems, scattered throughout the human gene pool; that the best we can do is to locate and polish these rare gems— and accept the limitations and mediocrity built into the rest of us.

The new science of human potential suggests otherwise. Forget everything you think you know about genes, talent, and intelligence, and take a look at the amazing new evidence.

EARLY REVIEWS

"The Genius in All of Us has quietly blown my mind." - LAURA MILLER, SALON

"Engrossing...revives faith in not just practice and determination but also parenting and lifestyle." - BOOKLIST (starred review)
"Empowering...myth-busting ...entertaining." - KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Interesting and informative...very well done." - BOOKFETISH.COM
"All educators should purchase [this] . . . it forces the reader to stop, think, and ponder every couple of pages." - AARON EYLER, SYNTHESIZING EDUCATION

Order a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or Indiebound.

OTHER MEDIA

• Wall Street Journal excerpt.
• New York Magazine's Approval Matrix
• New York Post review.
• Bloggingheads interview.

• Big Think Interview.

* All week on "The Takeaway" (3/8-3/12)

* Babble.com interview & excerpt (3/10)

* Online feature at The Atlantic

* Nature.com podcast (3/10)

* New York Times Learning Network (3/12)

* New York Times Book Review (3/21)

* NPR's Talk of The Nation (3/22)

* Tavis Smiley on PBS, late March

* Dr. Oz radio interview, late March

* TEDxSF talk (4/27)

Appearances this week

• Tuesday, March 9, 6.30pm to 8.30pm, NY Salon & The Albert Ellis Institute presents “Hardwired for Life?” The Albert Ellis Institute, 45 East 65 St (Between Park Ave and Madison Ave). RSVP to jean@nysalon.org

• Thursday, March 11, 7:00pm, Barnes & Noble/Upper West Side, 2289 Broadway (82nd St.)

• Saturday, March. 13, 1:00 PM, New York Public Library, Jefferson Library branch, 425 Avenue of the Americas (at 10th St.)

____________________

Day One on PRI's "The Takeaway"

2010-03-08T09:36:06-05:00

Here's the first of my five guest spots on the new public radio morning show "The Takeaway." I'll be on every day this week. (I particularly like how they work George W. Bush's voice into the intro-clip.)

• Show's website here.

• Download mp3 of interview here.

A rave from Salon

2010-03-07T22:41:18-05:00

A very positive, and thoughtful, review by Laura Miller.

As someone who has always resisted genetic determinism while still subscribing to the secular mystery religion of talent, I confess that The Genius in All of Us has quietly blown my mind. But the book's premise has far more profound implications for social policy....While The Genius in All of Us isn't an inventive, sensitive piece of writing like Shenk's celebrated book on Alzheimer's disease, The Forgetting, it isn't meant to be; he has deliberately stripped it down to communicate a handful of insurrectionary ideas as simply and unequivocally as possible.

Louann Brizendine's Amazon review

2010-03-06T11:17:08-05:00

Louann Brizendine's Amazon review of The Genius In All of Us:

"In The Genius in All of Us Shenk beautifully explains why the nature-nurture debate is dead. It is not just the genes we are born with, but how we are raised and what opportunities are open to us that determine how smart we will become. Nurture and experience reshape our genes, and thus our brain. Shenk argues that the idea we are either born with genius or talent, or we aren’t, is simply untrue. The notion that relentless, deliberate practice changes the brain and thus our abilities has been undervalued over the past 30 years in favor of the concept of “innate giftedness.” Practice, practice, practice (some say 10,000 hours or more) is what it takes. Shenk argues that it is just some fantasy that effortless, gifted genius is born and not made. He marshals evidence to show that genetic factors do not trump environmental factors but rather work in concert with them. Shenk notes that by the sweat of our brow we can train ourselves to be successful--even if we are born with only average genetic talent. Scientists know that how we are raised and how we are trained affects the expression of our genes. If you think you’ve reached your talent limit, think again, Shenk says. It’s not just in your genes, he says, but in the intensity of your motivation. Ambition, persistence, and self-discipline are not just products of genes, but can be shaped by nurture and environment. Certainly it is important to have good genes, but that determines at most only 50 percent of your talent. He underscores the point that intelligence is made up of the skills that a person has developed--with an emphasis on “developed”--through hard work. Encouraging ourselves and our children to work hard requires being surrounded by others also wanting to achieve striving for excellence. Moreover, Shenk gives the hopeful message not just for kids, but also for adults. Happily for us, the human brain remains plastic, changeable and trainable well into old age. So no matter how old you are, if you’d like to be smarter--get to work!"

_________

Louann Brizendine, M.D.,author of The Female Brain and The Male Brain, is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the National Board of Medical Examiners, and is clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF. She is founder and director of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic and the Teen Girl Mood and Hormone Clinic. After receiving her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, she completed an internship in medicine and neurology at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital, and a residency in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center of Harvard Medical School. She sits on the boards of many prestigious peer reviewed journals and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards.

Wall Street Journal excerpt

2010-03-05T12:37:00-05:00

A Wall Street Journal excerpt from The Genius in All of Us

Twitter hashtag: #GeniusUs

My book's new hashtag

2010-03-04T23:40:54-05:00

#GeniusUs

http://bit.ly/9R0wlm

A (self-aggrandizing) reward for obsessive readers

2010-03-03T16:51:57-05:00

It takes a special kind of person to have kept up with my work over the years, following topics from data smog to dog noses to kids toys to Alzheimer's to the ancient origins of chess. I love it when someone shows up at a book signing for The Immortal Game with an old coffee stained copy of Data Smog. Such die-hard readers are to be appreciated, pitied, and feared.

And rewarded. Today I am announcing a special giveaway. A free, signed hardcover or audio copy of my new book to the first five people who can answer all eight questions below. In the extreme-likelihood that no one gets all eight, prizes will go to the first five to get seven; if no one gets seven, it'll be the first five to get six, etc. Family members and anyone named Gersh Kuntzman not eligible.

1. Who was Jerry Garcia's principal guitar maker; where, specifically, did they first meet; and what was the name of guitar that he first built for Jerry on consignment?

2. My tape recorder batteries died in the kitchen of which literary legend?

3. Which recently-deceased FCC chairman was dumbfounded by my question about the public's less-than-impressive public knowledge of current affairs?

4. What great American writer was in attendance during a thorough roasting by Mark Twain but was unable to appreciate it because of his advanced state of dementia?

5. What American diplomat used chess to try to prevent the onset of the Revolutionary War?

6. What software entrepreneur and philanthropist became an early champion of "technorealism"?

7. What bioethicist told me in 1997: "Human cloning will occur, probably in Chelsea Clinton's lifetime."?

8. What magazine printed my column "Fecal Soup"?

________________

Email answers to: genius [at] davidshenk [dot] com

UPDATE#1: WE HAVE OUR FIRST WINNER: DEBORAH _______ FROM LA JOLLA, CA. CONGRATULATIONS!

UPDATE#2: OUR SECOND WINNER IS JOSEPH _________ FROM WASHINGTON, DC.

UPDATE#3: OUR THIRD WINNER IS YUN ________ FROM COOPERSBURG, PA.

Chapter 10 discussion

2010-03-01T14:12:57-05:00

Welcome to the discussion forum for Chapter 10 of The Genius in All of Us. Please enter your comments below.

Chapter 9 discussion

2010-03-01T14:12:28-05:00

Welcome to the discussion forum for Chapter 9 of The Genius in All of Us. Please enter your comments below.