Integrating cutting edge research from a wide swath of disciplines, Shenk brings a highly optimistic new view of human potential. The problem isn't our inadequate genetic assets, but our inability, so far, to tap into what we already have. IQ testing and widespread acceptance of 'innate' abilities have created an unnecessarily pessimistic view of humanity and much misdirected public policy, especially in education.
The truth is much more exciting. Genes are not a 'blueprint' that bless some with greatness and doom most of us to mediocrity or worse. Rather our individual destinies are a product of the complex interplay between genes and outside stimuli; a dynamic which we, as people and as parents, can influence. This is a revolutionary and optimistic message. We are not prisoners of our DNA. We all have the potential for greatness.
Deftly written and a joy to read, The Genius in All of Us is also deeply revolutionary and optimistic - the perfect antidote to challenging economic times.
'Shenk is a wonderful writer on science...He has an eye for the social and financial forces that shape scientific interests and he brings key players, whether proteins or people, to dramatic life.' Independent on Shenk's The Forgetting
