's Philosophical Grook 
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's Philosophical Grook
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ARE YOU A GENETIC HUNTER? (part one) by Bill Allsop (reprinted with permission.) |
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Hunting for genetic hunters has become a fascinating adventure because of the unique and broad spectrum of traits that genetic hunters seem to have. We have found that very few people display the full spectrum of genetic hunter or genetic farmer attributes. Instead they seem to possess a blur or blend of many different traits that sometimes make a specific person difficult to identify as either a genetic hunter or genetic farmer. In an attempt to graphically portray the difference between genetic hunters and genetic farmers we have borrowed an analogy which asks you to mentally balance a horizontal 12 inch ruler on your extended forefinger. we will place the collection of extreme genetic hunter types at the right end of the ruler and the extreme genetic farmer types at the left end. There is a continuum or gray scale of people with hunter/farmer traits between the two ends. Most of the youth that were successful in Project Lab, and who eventually went into science or engineering, were between thirty to forty percent off center toward the genetic hunter end. We were introduced to the genetic hunter/farmer concept by author Thom Hartman. This revelation came shortly after our inadvertently discovering that some of the most outstanding and successful members in our all volunteer, high school age, hands-on, projecting program were diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.). In our opinion, there is no way that these exceptional youth could be suffering from any kind of brain dysfunction (or deficit) and still turn out the quality, skilled, difficult and long term work that they had demonstrated such an exemplary talent for. We took strong exception to their schools labeling them as having A.D.D. and began a study to determine exactly why our evaluation disagreed so strongly with their schools diagnosis. What was started as a simple investigation has led us on one of the most exciting and lengthy adventures of our lives. We have come to believe, like Mr. Hartman so aptly stated, there is no such thing as A.D.D.. We say this, even though we happily accept that there exists a combination of traits in certain youth that are clearly different from the average school student. In the A.D.D. literature there is a mountain of information describing these traits. Though most of the traits are considered by the establishment to be abnormal and negative, we believe that, when viewed in the proper context, these traits are not only positive in nature but are absolutely essential to, and are in support of, high levels of creativity. We have found that a very high percentage of people that use creative thought as a way of life, exhibit many, if not most, of the characteristics on the A.D.D. list. We now use the list of "A.D.D. traits" in our search for young prospects, who, with proper mentoring, could become great, creative engineers and scientists. We have also adopted the quaint notion that these unique and outstanding youth are identifiable descendants of the great hunters of over a hundred thousand years past. It was only after discovering the list of A.D.D. "symptoms" in Dr. Hallowell's book Driven To Distraction, that we were able to recognize that while one member of our group had some of the traits found in the list, another member might have a completely different set of traits from the same list. I have not found a single person who had all of the genetic hunter traits rolled into one body. To further complicate matters, there were varying degrees of intensity of the traits. Some youths had a few strong genetic hunter traits as well as some weak ones that we probably would never have noticed if we had not been looking for them. Another interesting phenomenon that I have noticed is the abundance of self denial that we have witnessed among genetic hunters. Many of the adults that are of my close acquaintance, and with whom I probably identify because of our similar genetic hunter traits, initially denied having any genetic hunter characteristics. For this reason I question the validity of your asking yourself the following questions and expecting to get an honest answers. The best way to get good answers might be to ask opinions from your spouse, parent or possibly a friend that is willing to risk your friendship with honest answers. Because of accommodation, (accommodation is what a genetic hunter does when he/she makes an effort to present the outward appearance of being a good genetic farmer) it is sometimes difficult to separate acting from reality. Young kids are not sufficiently socially astute that they can submerge their wonderful genetic hunter traits in order to please the genetic farmers in their lives and therefore are far easier to identify as true genetic hunters. To discover what you were like as a youth, it is useful to ask older folks, ones that knew you in your youth, what you were like before and during elementary school. Genetic hunter kids are fairly easy to identify, and with their help, you can learn a lot about yourself. It is my belief, that an adult can hide their genetic hunter traits; but like the color of their eyes, it is impossible to get rid of them. The process of submerging strong, natural traits seems to cause strange and unsettling psychic undercurrents that leave their owners off center and not feeling quite right with the world.  1) Does the word "COW" easily bring an image of a cow to mind? Close your eyes and see if you can form an image of a cow munching on some grass with a barn in the background? Most genetic farmers see only words in their heads and have a difficult time conjuring up any images. Image thinking is the hallmark of genetic hunter traits and is the power center for conceptual thinking. In music, art and science (including engineering) there are concepts of relationships and motion that cannot be considered using words alone. The genetic hunter "feels" the rightness of relationships whereas the genetic farmer must use symbols with exact word meanings such as musical notes, math characters, etc. in order to gain any proficiency in a particular field. Genetic farmers are totally dependent on these artificial constructs to survive in a technical world. 2) Are you a stack person? By that, I mean are you comfortable with things being in stacks? Genetic hunters intuitively know exactly which stack an item is in and exactly where in the stack it is to be found. This data is stored as a spatial image (visual) and will remain in their heads for years. If someone messes with the stack, it can be a disaster. Stack people tend to let things stack up during the day (maybe a week, a month, or even a year) and then in a flurry of activity, put everything back into a more structured, recognizable system of similar things grouped together. 3. Are you always punctual? Genetic hunters may get to places on time, but they are seldom ahead of time and often show up at the last moment (or a little late). Genetic hunters' natural measure of time is by the job and not by the clock. Most genetic hunters, who have their curiosity and creativity intact, consider the clock to be a sort of enemy because every moment of their lives are filled with creative, interesting, exciting or totally have-to-do things all crammed into only twenty four hours. 4. At the end of the working day do you look almost as fastidious as you did when you started out? Some genetic hunters that I know can put on a freshly pressed suit and in an hour, look like they had slept in it. I suspect that this has to do with a genetic hunters high-energy activity level. Even sitting in a chair they wiggle and squirm around. I have known some strong genetic farmers who, with little effort on their part, look just as sharp at the end of the day as they did when they started out. 5. While you are working on a very interesting project, do your friends suspect that you have gone into outer space? During these times do you find that eating and sleeping are getting in the way of your project and that appointments and honey-do's have somehow slipped out of your mind? If this happens to you, you are experiencing what we call "hyper-focused concentration" and when properly developed, is a tremendous source of internal satisfaction and external productivity. Apparently only genetic hunters have this unique and outstanding capability. 6. Is your life well planned for the next year? Five years? Ten years? Even though a genetic hunter may draw up extensive plans, he/she intuitively knows that any plan that's devised will never be completely executed. The genetic hunter's exciting life offers them new adventures every minute of the day and following a plan simply gets in the way of the great adventure. This is not to say that a genetic hunter does not plan or is incapable of living a plan. However, unlike the genetic farmer who effortlessly lives a plan, the genetic hunter must exert a massive, conscious effort because their fascinating world is constantly trying to derail the plan with tempting opportunities that the creative and curious genetic hunter has a difficult time forgoing. 7. Are you creative? I don't necessarily mean like Edison or Michelangelo. Do you doodle or sketch things on paper while waiting for a phone call, do you whistle or play weird chords on a musical instrument just to hear what they sound like, do you make up new words or hang ordinary words together in unique ways for no reason at all? If you do any of these things you are creative. Most of us were brought up in a genetic farmer's environment where creativity bought us very little appreciation (at least 80 percent of the population are genetic farmers). If you spontaneously do any of the above, you might be amazed at the depth of your creativity if you allowed it full reign in your life. Creativity is the domain of the genetic hunter. Unfortunately, even though creativity is highly praised by educators as a wonderful ability, the student is expected to leave their creativity in the art or music room when the bell rings. Creatively solving math problems or creatively spelling words is strictly taboo and brings such heavy punishment into young genetic hunters lives that many of them never develop their marvelous gift for creativity past a form of self entertainment. 8. Are you a traditionalist? Do traditions rule your life? Do you feel that to break with a tradition is on a par with committing a serious sin. If traditions make sense to you and you consider them to be extremely serious business then you probably are not a genetic hunter. Strong genetic hunters see little sense in most traditions and happily go along making up new rules as they go. 9. Do you enjoy a slightly elevated level of excitement in your life? Maybe I should ask if you avoid boring situations. Genetic hunters tend to have a widely variable sense of time. Anything that bores them seem to take forever for it to get over with, whereas, when they are doing things that they find interesting, time seems to fly by. Genetic farmers (I am told) have a linear sense of time where one minute is the same length as the next, regardless of what is happening. A sub-group of genetic hunters crave high level excitement instead of creativity and are very easily bored. |
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