Blind Ambition

Time magazine asks why some people are ambitious and some are not. Is it innate?  Every once in a while, Time runs stories like this (about nature vs nurture), and they keep making a mess of it.

First, the article points out that identical twins aren't exactly alike in their ambition, even though they have the same genes.  I've discussed why this is misleading -- two elevators with identical designs can be sent to different floors.  Although they receive different "environments" (their buttons are pushed in different ways), it doesn't change the fact that they are designed to respond to certain types of environments (finger presses), and not to others (e.g. screams or smells).  It's true that our innate traits are triggered by certain situations, but the triggers themselves are set up by the genes!  If an elevator was summoned to the first floor or the third, would you say it's a product of its environment?

Second, although the article correctly lists a person's persistence (dedication to completing a task) and energy-level as prime factors in ambition, they draw the wrong conclusion, that it's "impossible to say whether innate differences ... were driving the ambitious behavior or whether learned behavior" was the cause. This is ridiculous!  Why do we learn anything?  Because we're motivated to do so.  I've discussed at length why motivation is innate.

Third, every discussion of innate differences in the article is always watered down, so as not to offend Time magazine's readers.  For example, women aren't less ambitious than men, they are "more selective about when they engage in competition".  Well, that's still an innate difference, right?

Fourth, the article makes a false distinction between what's in our genes and how we develop. The reality is, our genes guide our development over time.  The genes can recognize aspects of the environment, and use those aspects to guide our development and behavior.  Also, our genes can recognize many scenarios, and react accordingly by branching to a different development scenario.  But this is still 100% innate.

Comments

[BlackSun]

I think you're missing the rest of this post, which I'd like to read. Nice blog, though.