"We taste and feel and see the truth. We do not reason ourselves into it."– William Butler Yeats
Today, October 27, I ran with Randall. Secretariat continues to be in Southern California, assisting his 96-year-old mother. Hurry back Secretariat. I agree with William Butler Yeats since we often incorporate a defense mechanism called rationalization in our thinking process and unfortunately that affects, destroys, and filters reality.
Randall was born in Southern California and he talked about his grandfather, born in Russia. According to him, his great-grandfather was killed by the Bolsheviks, and his grandfather and his mother escaped from Russia and made it to the United States in 1911.
Randall’s grandfather eventually made it to California and was a furrier in the 30s 40s and 50s. He remembers seeing pictures of his grandmother in hiking boots, and he thought that was amazing. His grandfather introduced him to the outdoors, which was a real treasure. This grandfather also rode horses and was a member of the Adventure Club and Breakfast Club in Los Angeles. His grandfather lived to age 96, and even at age 95 was an official greeter for the Adventure Club. Members in this club did amazing expeditions, feats, and travels. They would bring back pictures and other paraphernalia of their adventures and travels. Randall was a member of the club while he lived in Southern California, but is no longer active.
Randall remembers riding in Griffith Park with his grandfather. Randall enjoyed and related to the chapter on Jim Steere in “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.” Randall was very familiar with the desert where Jim lived went to school, and rode his horse as a kid. I am please that Randall is enjoying my book. He just finished the chapter on Lew Hollander and was impressed with his accomplishments.
Randall would like to run his first marathon, and is training for that. His goal is to run that distance without being in pain or breaking down. He ran 15 miles recently and felt good about that. He is getting close to his goal. Our run today was about 10 miles, and with about a mile to go, he told me that he had to push, because Secretariat was returning shortly. He would like to be able to beat Secretariat. From Secretariat: A challenge be prepared Secretariat will be!!! So, he got in front of me and I did not catch him today.
An October 20, 2011 article in the Wall Street Journal titled “As Brain Changes, So Can IQ” found that teenager’s intelligence may be more malleable than we previously thought. Perhaps, teenagers IQ can either rise or fall depending upon experiential factors. Researchers at the University College London correlated the rise or fall of teenagers IQ score with small changes in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging to record structural variations.
Although the sample size of this study was too small to warrant broad conclusions, perhaps cognitive abilities can increase or decrease. If an individuals genes that shape intelligence can be identified, then new teaching strategies or life experiential elements might be able to foster smarter teenagers. What immediately comes to mind is the electronic generation, with all the video games and texting going on. Do you think, another Steve Jobs is going to emerge from this generation of teens?
0 comments:
Post a Comment