And, with sufficient resources, you could become a musician and gain a richer appreciation of music.
This I’m not as sure about. I can become competent at playing an instrument and better at interpreting music, but I’m not sure I can rewrite my talents. If those are determined by a relatively inelastic part of my brain’s configuration, then it seems likely that the pathway to becoming a Beethoven simply does not exist for me.
A better example might be heroic compassion- people who put themselves at risk without thinking to save others. The consensus opinion is it’s probably at least somewhat genetic, and you either are a hero (in that narrow sense) or you aren’t. I could be roused to tears by tales of heroic compassion but not have the unthinking impulse to do it, and it’s not clear that if I don’t have it I could acquire it. There are other things that people do acquire- bodyguards learn how to operate after being shot, and soldiers learn how to stay active in combat situations- so it might be possible. But I think bounded potentials are more realistic than unbounded potentials.
Mostly agreed.
This I’m not as sure about. I can become competent at playing an instrument and better at interpreting music, but I’m not sure I can rewrite my talents. If those are determined by a relatively inelastic part of my brain’s configuration, then it seems likely that the pathway to becoming a Beethoven simply does not exist for me.
A better example might be heroic compassion- people who put themselves at risk without thinking to save others. The consensus opinion is it’s probably at least somewhat genetic, and you either are a hero (in that narrow sense) or you aren’t. I could be roused to tears by tales of heroic compassion but not have the unthinking impulse to do it, and it’s not clear that if I don’t have it I could acquire it. There are other things that people do acquire- bodyguards learn how to operate after being shot, and soldiers learn how to stay active in combat situations- so it might be possible. But I think bounded potentials are more realistic than unbounded potentials.