Nature versus Nurture In 1970, Klara and László Polgár (Wiki) | Professor M

Nature versus Nurture

In 1970, Klara and László Polgár (Wiki) started an unusual experiment “with a simple premise: that any child has the innate capacity to become a genius in any chosen field.” They decided to turn their future children into chess prodigies. And they succeeded. Sofia Polgar is an International Master, while Susan and Judit are Grandmasters—with Judit Polgar (Wiki) being one of the best chess players in the world (No. 8 in July 2004).

The Polgar experiment is a subject of deep discussion in, among other books, “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else” (Amazon) by Geoff Colvin.

It appears that László must have been onto something with the conjecture that “Geniuses are made, not born.”
However, the Polgar experiment provides only anecdotal evidence. No scientific conclusion hinges upon just one data point. As such, here’s another data point: The Gracie family (Wiki).

The Gracies set out to turn their future children into fighting prodigies. And they succeeded. The number of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts in the family is unbelievable. Plus, the Gracies have dominated Vale Tudo and the Ultimate Fighting Challenge (UFC) events.

The Gracie experiment, though, is not as clean as the Polgar story. Hélio Gracie adapted some of the Japanese Jujutsu techniques and effectively created a new martial art, which for decades was called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Only after within-family squabbles about naming rights did they choose to rename Gracie Jiu-Jitsu into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Hence, one could argue that the Gracies had access to valuable private information that enabled them to mold their children into fighting prodigies. The Polgars were on a level playing field with others because they did not invent chess. However, one could say that the Polgars developed an effective novel method of teaching chess?

Interestingly, many see similarities between chess and jiu-jitsu—both activities involve strategy, tactics, improving one’s position, avoiding blunders, etc. In chess, the goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king on a board. In jiu-jitsu, the goal is to submit the opponent on a mat. The name of one Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy is Checkmat. Clever. I wonder if there’s Stalemat out there?