Talent as an unintentional agent
Published:
Nov 22, 2015
Keywords:
bioethics ethics talent unintentional exposure
Abstract
Unintentional exposure is a novel concept. No single person has coined the term. It mainly refers to substances and activities affecting individuals without their consent – be it informed or not. In the broader field of applied ethics in general, and of bioethics in particular, the scope of application extends from nutrition (GM, functional food), to pollution (chemical-, air-, light-, noise-, radioactive contamination etc.), climate change, embryo rights, drug side-effects (especially in regard to chemotherapy), radiation (e.g. food), Permissible Exposure Limits, education and (bio-)terrorism. In the discussion about talent and giftedness1 there are two main approaches or schools of thought. On one hand, talent is conceived as an exclusive agent, in that some individuals are born more capable than others. On the other hand, a different school of thought advocates the modification of body and mind of all individuals in order for them to achieve similar levels of high performance. In the first case, individuals are bound to their nature, while in the latter instance they are prisoners of their environment –two equivalent positions in terms of autonomy and freedom. The latter will be argued to be the case; as a result, a connection with unintentional exposure will be established.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Papageorgiou (Κωνσταντίνος Παπαγεωργίου) K. (2015). Talent as an unintentional agent. Bioethica, 1(2), 38–54. https://doi.org/10.12681/bioeth.19651
- Section
- Original Articles
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 License, which allows for immediate free access to the work and permits any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. Appropriate credit must be given by citing the author(s) and the original publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
We encourage authors to deposit their articles, as well as data underlying the publications, in institutional and/or other appropriate subject repositories.
Bioethica permits and encourages authors to archive the final publication pdf in institutional (e.g. the repository of the National Hellenic Research Foundation) or other appropriate subject repositories (e.g. SSOAR repository for social sciences), in compliance with institutional and/or funder open access policies, after publication in the BIOETHICA. Authors must provide bibliographic details that credit publication in the journal, as well as related funding details (when applicable).
Lists of institutional and other subject-based academic open access repositories can be found listed by country at the registry http://opendoar.org/countrylist.php
If your institution does not possess a repository you may deposit a copy of your paper at no cost with www.zenodo.org , the repository supported for open access research in the EU by the European Commission, through the project OpenAIRE (www.openaire.eu )
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Anshel MH, Lidor R. Talent Detection Programs in Sport: The Questionable Use of Psychological Measures. Journal of Sport Behavior 2012, 35(3):239–266.
Atlan H. La fin du “tout génétique”?: vers de nouveaux paradigmes en biologie (Greek). Leader Books, 1999.
Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of Biomedical Ethics, Oxford University Press, 2001:454.
Berg JW, Appelbaum PS, Lidz CW, Parker LS. Informed Consent: Legal Theory and Clinical Practice, 2nd ed., 2001:352.
Brant AM, Munakata Y, Boomsma DI, Defries JC, Haworth CMA, Keller MC, Hewitt JK. The Nature and Nurture of High IQ: An Extended Sensitive Period for Intellectual Development. Psychological Science 2013, 24(8):1487–95.
Butko NJ, Movellan JR. Learning to Learn. In 2007 IEEE 6th International Conference on Development and Learning, 2007:151–156.
Carlin F. The Grandmaster Experiment Psychology Today, 2005. Retrieved September 04, 2013, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200506/the-grandmaster-experiment.
Chabris CF, Hebert BM, Benjamin DJ, Beauchamp J, Cesarini D, van der Loos M, Laibson D. Most reported genetic associations with general intelligence are probably false positives. Psychological Science 2012, 23(11):1314–23.
Cote J, Baker J, Abernathy B. Practice and Play in the Development of Sport Expertise. In: Eklund R, Tenenbaum G (Ed). Handbook of sport psychology, Hoboken NJ, 3rd ed., 2007:184–202.
Csikszentmihalyi M. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Praha: Lidové Noviny, 1990. Retrieved from http://www.vedpuriswar.org/book_review/Flow.doc.
Dai DY. Essential Tensions Surrounding the Concept of Giftedness. In L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009:39–80.
Davis GA. New Developments in Gifted Education. In L. V. Shavinina (Ed.), International Handbook on Giftedness, Springer, 2009:1035–1044.
Durand-Bush N, Salmela JH. The development of talent in sport. In: Singer RN, Hausenblas HA, Janelle C (Ed). Handbook of sport psychology, New York: Wiley, 2001:269–289.
Dweck CS, Leggett EL. A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review 1988, 95(2):256–273.
Ericsson KA. The Influence of Experience and Deliberate Practice on the Development of Superior Expert Performance. In: Ericsson K, Charness N, Feltovich PJ, Hoffman RR (Ed.). The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance, 2006:683–704.
Ericsson KA. Deliberate practice and the modifiability of body and mind: Toward a science of the structure and acquisition of expert and elite performance. International Journal of Sport Psychology 2007, 38:4–34.
Ericsson KA. Training history, deliberate practice and elite sports performance: an analysis in response to Tucker and Collins review--what makes champions? British Journal of Sports Medicine 2012, 47(9):533–5.
Ericsson KA, Kintsch W. Long-term working memory. Psychological Review 1995, 102(2):211–45. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22306890.
Ericsson KA, Krampe R, Tesch-Römer C. The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review 1993, 100(3):363–406. Retrieved from http://doi.apa.org/psycinfo/1993-40718-001.
Ericsson KA, Nandagopal K, Roring RW. An Expert Performance Approach to the Study of Giftedness. In: L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009a:129–154.
Ericsson KA, Nandagopal K., Roring RW. Toward a science of exceptional achievement: attaining superior performance through deliberate practice. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2009b, 1172:199–217.
Feinberg J. Harm to Self Arizona, Tucson: Oxford University Press, 1986:448.
Flynn JR. The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978. Psychological Bulletin 1984, 95:29–51.
Fraser-Thomas J. Community size in youth sport settings: Examining developmental assets and sport withdrawal. Revue phénEPS/PHEnex Journal 2010, 2(2):1–9.
Gagne F. Debating Giftedness: Pronat vs. Antinat. In: Shavinina L. (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009:155–204.
Galton SF. Hereditary genius. London: MacMillan and co. And New York:1869.
Geake JG. Neuropsychological Characteristics of Academic and Creative Giftedness. In: L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009:261–274.
Goleman D. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, 1995.
Gottfried AE, Gottfried AW. Development of Gifted Motivation: Longitudinal Research and Applications. In: L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, 2009:617–632.
Gross MUM. Highly Gifted Young People: Development from Childhood to Adulthood. In L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009:337–352.
Haier R. What Does a Smart Brain Look Like? Scientific American Mind, 2009:26–33.
Haier RJ, Jung RE, Yeo R., Head K, Alkire MT. Structural brain variation and general intelligence. NeuroImage 2004, 23(1):425–33.
Helgadóttir FD, Menzies RG, Einstein D. Magical thinking and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in Australia and Iceland: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 2012, 1(3):216–219.
Howe MJA, Davidson JW, Sloboda JA. Innate Talents: Reality Or Myth. Behavioural and Brain Sciences. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 1998, 21:399–442.
Hu Y, Ericsson KA, Yang D, Lu C. Superior self-paced memorization of digits in spite of a normal digit span: the structure of a memorist’s skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition 2009, 35(6):1426–42.
Hunt E. Expertise, Talent, and Social Encouragement. In: Ericsson K, Charness N, Feltovich PJ, Hoffman RR (Ed.). The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance, Cambridge University Press, 2006:31–40.
Jensen AR. Speed of information processing in a calculating prodigy. Intelligence, 1990, 14(3):259–274.
Kamm FM. Bioethical Prescriptions: To Create, End, Choose, and Improve Lives, OUP USA, 2013.
Klissouras V. Heritability of adaptive variation. Journal of Applied Physiology 1971, (31):338–344.
Klissouras V, Casini B, Di Salvo V, Faina M, Marini, C, Pigozzi F, Parisi P. Genes and olympic performance: a co-twin study. International Journal of Sports Medicine 2001, 22(4):250–5.
Kono T. Nuclear transfer and reprogramming. Reviews of Reproduction 1997, 2(2):74–80.
Lekkas D. Towards an epistemonic theoretical surveillance of dance. In: Surveillance of Greek Music & Dance. Greek Open University, 2003:204–206.
Lewontin R. It ain’t necessarily so: The dream of the human genome and other illusions. New York: New York Review Books, 2001.
Lewontin R. It’s Even Less in Your Genes. The New York Review of Books, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2013, from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/may/26/its-even-less-your-genes/?pagination=false.
Locurto CM. Sense and nonsense about IQ: the case for uniqueness. Praeger, 1991.
Lubinski D, Benbow C, Webb R, Bleske-Reckek A. Tracking exceptional human capital over two decades. Psychological Science 2006, 17(3):194–199.
Maguire E, Valentine E, Wilding J, Kapur N. Routes to remembering: the brains behind superior memory. Nature Neuroscience 2002, 6(1):90–5.
O’Brien R (n.d.). History of Diving. Retrieved July 16, 2013, from http://www.usadiving.org/about/diving-101/history-of-diving.
Papageorgiou KG. Magical Thinking | e-book, 2010. http://www.creationray.com/my-books/thinking-book/.
Papageorgiou KG. Talents & Gifted Education: A report on research findings and current status, Athens, 2014:112. Retrieved from http://www.creationray.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ReportBioethics20141.pdf.
Pfeiffer SI. The gifted: clinical challenges for child psychiatry. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2009, 48(8):787–90.
Plomin R, Haworth C. Common DNA markers can account for more than half of the genetic influence on cognitive abilities. Psychological Science 2013, 24(4) :562–8.
Rattan A, Good C, Dweck CS. “It’s ok — Not everyone can be good at math”: Instructors with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2012, 48(3):731–737.
Rhem J. Pygmalion In: The Classroom. The National Teaching & Learning Forum, 1999, 8(2):1.
Rosenthal R, Jacobson L. Pygmalion in the classroom. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1968.
Rossum van JHA. Giftedness and Talent in Sport. In: L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness 2009, Springer:751-792.
Sandel M. Justice: What’s the right thing to do? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.
Schmidt RA, Wrisberg CA. Motor Learning and Performance: A Situation-based Learning Approach. (I. Champaign, Ed.). Human Kinetics, 2008.
Sekowski A, Siekanska M, Klinkosz W. On Individual Differences in Giftedness. In: L. Shavinina (Ed.), International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009:467–486.
Shavinina LV. A Unique Type of Representation is the Essence of Giftedness: Towards a Cognitive-Developmental Theory. In: Shavinina L. (Ed.). International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009: 231–259.
Simonton D. Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Retrieved from http://doi.apa.org/psycinfo/1999-02789-000.
Simonton DK. Greatness: Who Makes History and why, 1994.
Simonton DK. Creative productivity: A predictive and explanatory model of career trajectories and landmarks. Psychological Review 1997, 104(1):66–89.
Simonton DK. Creativity as Blind Variation and Selective Retention: Is the Creative Process Darwinian? Psychological Inquiry 2000, 10(4):309–328.
Sternberg R. Beyond g: The theory of successful intelligence. In S. RG & G. EL (Eds.), The general factor of intelligence: How general is it. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
Terman LM. Genetic Studies Of Genius Volume I Mental And Physical Traits of a Thousand Gifted Children (2nd ed.). California: Stanford University Press, 1926.
Vrecko S. Just How Cognitive Is “Cognitive Enhancement”? On the Significance of Emotions in University Students’ Experiences with Study Drugs. AJOB Neuroscience 2013, 4(1):4–12.
WADA (n.d.). Gene Doping. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www.wada-ama.org/en/Science-Medicine/Science-topics/Gene-Doping/.
Wallace B, Maker CJ. Discover/Tasc: An Approach to Teaching and Learning That Is Inclusive Yet Maximises Opportunities for Differentiation According to Pupils’ Needs. In: Shavinina L (Ed.). International handbook on giftedness, Springer, 2009:1113–1142.
Wikipedia (n.d.). Charles Servizio. Retrieved July 15, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Servizio
Dickens WT, Flynn JR, Crawford C, Fisher MA, Hanson R, Harris J. Heritability estimates versus large environmental effects: The IQ paradox resolved. Psychological Review 2001, 108:346–369.
Wilmore JH, Costill DK. Physiology of sport an exercise. Human Kinetics, 3rd ed., 2004.
Wilson C. A Criminal History of Mankind. Granada Publ., 1984.
Παπαγεωργίου Κ, Λέκκας Δ. Επιστήμη και (vs) Scientia. In: Φιλοσοφία, Φυσικές Επιστήμες, Βιοηθική, Αθήνα, 2014.
