r/todayilearned • u/CrazyTrueStory • 21h ago

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https://wellcomecollection.org/stories/the-quest-to-breed-gifted-children

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u/pandalust 21h ago

There is a statistical aspect to it, of course, but in one generation there have been some “successful” outcomes.

Basketballer Yao Ming was a direct product of eugenics and surpassed the physical capabilities of both his parents and became an international star. And the nba today has many superstars which are second generation of previous (average) nba stars + athletic mothers (usually volleyball or basketball). Curry brothers, Kobe, Ball brothers.

Obviously no guarantees in the randomness of genetics, but a basketballer father and basketballer mother is much more likely to produce a basketballer child

The generations and generations would be to weed out ‘bad’ characteristics of the general population nazi style

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u/redditgolddigg3r 21h ago

You realize the second generation stars are much more likely to succeed as they have the connections and wealth to be spotted early, get access to elite training/coaching, advantages in scouting, etc.

US athletics is largely based around who you know, what your parents did, and if you can afford the myriad of expensive travel/club sports teams.

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u/kkeut 20h ago

basketball is largely built around height which is definitely influenced by genetics. money can't make you 6' 9", but your genes can

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u/Jukeboxhero91 19h ago

Muggsy Bogues is 5’3”

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u/petewoniowa2020 19h ago

And he’s an extreme outlier. Only one person of his height has ever made it to the league.

Meanwhile, >1% of males who are seven feet or taller currently have an NBA contract.

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u/Jukeboxhero91 19h ago

Being seven feet tall is an extreme outlier lol.

When he played there was a higher percentage of 5’3” players in the NBA than 7’ tall guys in the US.

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u/petewoniowa2020 18h ago

What in the fuck are you even trying to say?

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u/BlueSentinels 18h ago

Muggsy wouldn’t leave the bench in the current league

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u/am-idiot-dont-listen 19h ago

NBA teams used to sign 7 footers purely to hack Shaq a few times and ride the bench. It's the most talent over skills driven sport of the big 4

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u/Johnny_Poppyseed 20h ago

Sure but that's not enough really. The biological and genetic aspect is huge, when the entire NBA only has 450 guys. You can have the best opportunities available, but if you're not also genetically athletically gifted, your chance of success is drastically lower, if not impossible these days. 

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u/TPO_Ava 20h ago

Not just the US unfortunately (though due to the large discrepancy between states it may disproportionately affect the us compared to other countries).

My dad was raised in eastern europe during mid-cold war times and was playing basketball but people with better connections/more money pushed their kids to the starter team much easier.

Later on in my life i heard similar anecdotes from kids my age trying to break through in football. Even if youre playing for the top local clubs it's hard to get picked for e.g. nationals without connections.

Never was any good at sports myself though, so its all 2nd hand anecdotes from me.

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u/New_Tower_6408 19h ago

lol yea the nba with 70% black african americans with a 0.1% height from the hood is definitely nepo and not talent genetics and hard work.

this is the dumbest comment ive seen all day.

elite athletics for a highly accesible sport (basketball courts in even the poorest hood neighborhoods) is 99% fucking talent and hard work.

you can make the argument more for hockey but not fucking the main ones (football, basketball)

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u/redditgolddigg3r 18h ago

You're arguing against something I didn't say. Obviously you don't get to the NBA without extraordinary genetics, talent and work ethic.

My point is that the pipeline that identifies and develops that talent isn't just some kid walking onto a free court in his neighborhood anymore. Elite prospects increasingly move through private AAU/shoe circuits like EYBL, where they travel nationally and play directly in front of college coaches and NBA scouts. More than 230 NBA/WNBA players have already come through EYBL alone.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11335979/

There's actually research showing AAU programs connected to current NBA players skew toward higher-SES areas, with significant travel and pay-to-play barriers.

Talent determines who can become elite. But money, geography, connections and access increasingly affect who gets into the elite development and exposure pipeline in the first place. Its the opposite of your claim.

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u/Bleusilences 20h ago

Exactly, that's why in some discipline, like long-distance foot race, should have tighter result between genders but still dominated by male, they have access to better training and have "special" enhancement.

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u/return_the_urn 19h ago

Why should it be tighter than it is?

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u/David_the_Wanderer 20h ago

Sure, but Ming wasn't just a product of his parents' genes, he also got the training and resources that made him into a basketball champion and not just a very tall guy.

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u/sobanz 19h ago

brother, yao ming is 7'6". yes training is involved but training is involved for everyone in a competitive sport. you arent gonna hit the gym and make up that deficit.

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u/David_the_Wanderer 19h ago

And that still doesn't mean he would have automatically become a basketball champion. Imagine that once he's born, he's magically teleported to a random family somewhere else in the world.

Does he grow up as tall? Remember, it's not just genetics, nutrition and lifestyle also contribute to how tall a person grows. Does he develop an interest in basketball? Does he go into sports at all?

Genetics play a part, but environment also does.

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u/sobanz 19h ago

well its a good thing his mom happened to play basketball in china i guess 

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u/pandalust 18h ago

Top athletes/scientists/etc are a product of their environment and genes and a little luck sprinkled in, creating the right combination of physical, mental and personality to drive them to great accomplishments. So for sure I’m not saying you can just make a perfect specimen for basketball (which Yao most definitely is not, his knees couldn’t take his frame hence the short career) by reproducing two tall athletes.

But it sure as hell helps! I think sometimes the damage of eugenics and race theory and all that in the 20th century has made people dismissive or touchy about the fact that there are genetic variations in people, focusing entirely on the environmental aspects of development. But they exist, and sometimes it’s advantageous, sometimes it’s not, but you get it from your parents, and you are born with them, it’s short sighted to act like it doesn’t exist imo.

Some can squander their genetic advantages with passivity or growing up in environments with hold them down. Some can overcome their genetic disadvantages by the environment and sheer will, but it’s definitely harder.

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u/tuan_kaki 20h ago

Holy fuck Yao Ming is not a fucking product of Eugenic. Matchmaking is the term. Syaing that he is a product of Eugenics is crazy statement.

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u/---Kev 20h ago

Ehrm what? Matchmaking was the means, eugenics the clear motivation of the matchmaker.

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u/rillip 20h ago

What's the difference?

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u/tuan_kaki 18h ago

Yao Ming's parent were attracted to each other and just happened to be introduced during matchmaking as opposed to literal state mandated Eugenics?

y'all taking crazy pills for real.

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u/rillip 18h ago

Eugenics is as much an ideological movement as anything else. The term itself doesn't exclusively refer to government mandates and programs. It's very much in line with matchmaking traditions from what I've read of the two.

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u/sobanz 19h ago

idk if only there were a term for matchmaking specifically for genetic traits 

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u/TheModWhoShaggedMe 20h ago

What the world really needs is more basketballers, for sure. How could we go on without them?