Everybody has a max potential, physically and mentally however most people never reach their true potential. There are many reasons people don't reach their potential but for now I'm going to talk about some of the big reasons.
First and foremost we all have different genetics and of course that plays a big factor in how capable we are, if someone comes from a long line of athletes or scholars they are likely to be well versed in those areas, but outside of genetics is what I am interested in as it is something we are all capable of changing. It's all well and good to discuss how genetics effects potential but I don't know how to edit genes however I do know ways in which we can all reach our potential.
Check out part one (https://steemit.com/science/@dr0tcl/creating-a-higher-potential)
As we grow
As we grow and develop so do our brains, it isn't until around the ages of 21 for women and 25 for men that the brain becomes fully devolved. It takes a different amount of time for men and women for a whole number of reasons but one is likely because women have smaller more efficient brains whilst men have brains that are about 14% larger as men and women are built for different tasks and to think in different ways.
When we are born our brains are ready to grow and absorb information and it is critical that they are stimulated well. For example the more you talk to a baby the earlier they will learn to talk, this works for all areas of the brain as the more they get stimulated the faster they grow and they become better at their jobs.
This is the reason you see athletes like Floyd Mayweather be so dominant over their sport not only does he have good genetics from his father who was also a boxer but he was put into the gym from day one and taught to punch before he could walk. As this was taught at such a young age his brain was able to gain a comprehensive grasp of boxing from a young age allowing it to become better and better in that area whilst it grew.
Thats why you rarely see successful athletes that started a sport later in life, their brains have already developed so they can't learn and grow in the same way as during their earlier years.
Intelligence
I was recently looking at the difference in average IQ from country to country and immediately you see the pattern emerge where wealthy countries have an average of 100+ whereas poor countries have an average ranging from about 60-90.
This is an absolutely massive difference and the main reason has nothing to do with genetics but rather education, if you are put into school from the ages of about 7-11 ( It is highly debatable which age is best to start formal education) until 18-25 your brain will be regularly stimulated in math, science, language and many more which allows the brain to grow and become very efficient in these tasks, which equates for the higher IQ.
In countries that are rife with poverty people can't send their children to school at all in many cases so the brain doesn't get the same stimulation so it will never grow in the same way and become as efficient in said areas, so they will always score much lower on IQ tests because of this.
All of this just goes to show that a large portion of the world population will never get close to reaching their full potential and are not less intelligent but rather just less educated. Imagine how much faster technology would evolve if everyone had the opportunity to reach even 75% of their full potential. This is why it's so important for the human brain to be adequately stimulated during its growth.
This blog follows on from a previous post https://steemit.com/science/@dr0tcl/creating-a-higher-potential where I discuss how potential is effected before birth. Comment, vote and follow for more.