Today in Biology class, our teacher told us of Jean Bapiste Lamarck's ideas on speciation. He believed that animals evolved by using various parts of there bodies. If a giraffe used its neck to try and grab leaves in a high tree, its neck would get longer. Then, when the animals reproduced, the babies would have long necks. Now, modern genetics tells us this simply isn't true, because there would have to be a mechanism to alter the organism's sex cells (only way to pass to offspring). There is no evidence supporting such a theory.
Now, I'm a firm believer of the quote:
"
Nurture your mind with great thoughts,
for you will never go any higher than
you
think."
- Benjamin Disraeli
I expressed this opinion to a friend who takes the same Biology class, and he told me that my ideas were Lamarckian and that intelligence is innate. I strongly disagree. It has been proven time and time again that the brain is more comparable to a muscle, which grows stronger when used. Why else would all great authors agree that the key to being a great writer is to regularly write? Why else would students be better at math when they practice it regularly? Why is it that the best coders are the ones that actually code?
Practice Makes Perfect