We wildly underestimate how much environment shapes us, says Angela Duckworth
About Angela
- Rosa Lee & Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania
- 2013 MacArthur Fellow
- #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit
- TED Talk among the most viewed of all time
- Co-director, Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative
We wildly underestimate how much environment shapes us, says Angela Duckworth
Angela Duckworth, the psychologist famous for studying grit and perseverance, says on the Masters of Scale podcast (originally published on May 16, 2024) that most people overrate natural talent and underrate the power of our surroundings. The people you spend time with and the opportunities you get, she says, matter far more than your genetic hand.
Transcript
Note: Transcripts may be automatically generated and are not fully corrected for spelling, grammar, and formatting.
For sure, we have genetic endowments, you know. I am probably lucky to have gotten certain genetic cards from my dad and certain from my mom. I don't want to deny that, but holy smokes, the environment you're in, the people who you're with, the opportunities that you have, I think we vastly overestimate talent that's natural and vastly underestimate the power of our environments.
