Posts by John

Understanding Greatness – Page 6

John | 03/08/2013

THE SCIENCE OF IMPROVEMENT Inside the brain, neurons account for almost every class of mental phenomenon…memory, emotion, muscle control, sensory perception, and so on.  But there ARE questions neurons can’t explain: Why does it take so long to learn complex…..

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Understanding Greatness – Page 9

John | 03/08/2013

AT WHAT COST? Former Newsweek reporter Brook Larmer, in his book Operation Yao Ming, claims that athletes are being “encouraged” to marry and have children by the Chinese government — including the parents of Yao Ming.  Children are assessed as…..

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Understanding Greatness – Page 8

John | 03/08/2013

Having said all of that… GREATNESS CAN COME OUT OF NOWHERE Only one-in-four Americans comes from towns of fewer than 50,000 people, but nearly half of NFL players and PGA golfers  are from those exact small towns, according to two…..

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Understanding Greatness – Page 7

John | 03/08/2013

CATALYSTS FOR GREATNESS For all that science has debunked or demystified about the nature of greatness, there are still some traits whose origins remain shrouded in mystery… INSPIRATION Inspiration has a long history, originally thought of as coming from divine…..

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Understanding Greatness – Page 5

John | 03/08/2013

THE TALENT FACTORIES Something crazy happened to violinists in the twentieth century.  They got better and faster than their peers had been in previous centuries. How did this happen?  And how have runners and swimmers gotten so much faster, and…..

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Understanding Greatness – Page 4

John | 03/08/2013

HOME GROWN TALENT In both Korea and Jamaica, the roots of excellence are cultural, not genetic. In the United States, track and field is a marginal, niche sport that pops its head out of the sand every four years and…..

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Understanding Greatness – Page 3

John | 03/08/2013

WHERE DOES TALENT COME FROM? It’s a big question, and one way to approach it is to look at the places where talent seems to be located — in other words, to sketch a map.  In this case, the map would…..

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Protected: Understanding Greatness

John | 03/08/2013

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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THE CONCEPT

John | 03/08/2013

The idea of natural born greatness is part of the fiber of our culture.  “Talent” is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “mental or physical endowment; natural ability.” Near the end of his career, when Michael Jordan confided to Chicago…..

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FP MAG…. GLORY HOUNDS: “BRILLIANCE”

John | 02/21/2013

  By Rebecca Frankel Tacked up against a chain-link wall inside FOB Barioli in Helmand Province Afghanistan, is a large plywood sign. Its white paint is buckled and peeling, but you can’t miss the message: “We Find What You Fear.”…..

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