you see, cobraboy, there are people who believe that we are all able to make rational choices, and, if we do not, it is because we have elected to be irrational. that is simplistic, beyond discussion. some people are born with qualities which are far different from similarly situated people, and that explains the notion of the Black Sheep of a family. not everyone is disposed to the same behaviors, and it is not always a matter of personal failings, on their part. some have genetic defects, which impair brain functions, and induce different behavioral traits. Van Gogh is a perfect example of an exceedingly talented person , beset by demons occasioned by a brain defect. to be reductionist and dismissive, and to attribute a person?s failings in life to ?bad choices?is beyond simplistic, and, in a way, elitist. it suggests that those who fail, choose to. i am not in the NBA, but not because i do not wish to. at the age when i could function at that level, i just did not have the gifts. acumen is a gift, just like the ability to throw a ball at 100 miles per hour. some have it, some do not. besides, you analysis fails to examine those who are successes because they inherited wealth, and the contacts with which to develop it. no amount of choice on my part will ever give me the access to the advantages in life that someone like George Bush has. yet, i bet that my SATs were in excess of his, and so is my IQ score.
