Nature or Nurture?

More thoughts on the "Murky Gene Pool" concept.

We all know how important it is to have a perfect egg and perfect sperm come together in a perfect fashion - and then to start the Baby Einstein and Beethoven goin' within the first couple of weeks of conception. Because if we don't, the kid will never get into an Ivy League College - and that, of course, would be the end of the world as we know it.

Not to mention the guilt. One of the things stressed out moms think when the baby ceases being perfect is "Nature or Nurture - it's still my fault."

But the reality seems to be that great men and women emerge from all sorts of situations. It would make sense that the children of super achieving parents would achieve even more. That's not generally been the case. Think about the sons and daughters of presidents. Think about the siblings of presidents.

Throughout history great things have come from an odd assortment of people.

For every story you know about the "perfect kid" with every advantage who went on to greatness I can tell you 10 stories about "hard luck" kids who did even better.

Jesus picked for his disciples guys who couldn't make it into Rabbinical school.

What's the point? Maybe we get caught up in worrying about the wrong things.

I never worried about my kids coming from a murky gene pool. I never worried about them getting into the right schools. I never worried about them not having designer clothes. (But they did and they do.)

Growing up they didn't know what a sense of entitlement was.

But we raised them very purposefully - and, while they're not perfect, each one is a power for good in the universe.



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