My Brilliant Brain (National Geographic Documentary)
Brad Newsome, reviewer
November 9, 2007
Nurture thoroughly trumps nature in the first episode of this captivating series about the human brain.
The program focuses on chess champion Susan Polgar who might not have been the formidable figure that the chess world’s grand masters have come to know and fear had it not been for her dear old dad. Polgar’s father, Laszlo Polgar, had the idea that any child could be turned into a genius through early and incessant education. He had intended his daughter to be a maths prodigy but her chance discovery of a chessboard while rummaging through a cupboard in the family’s Budapest flat switched her nascent genius on to a different track.
Polgar herself undergoes a variety of chess-related challenges and medical examinations during the course of this documentary, with an MRI scan revealing that her devotion to chess has physically rewired her brain – the part of the brain that normally looks after such things as chess has effectively hijacked the face-recognition bit. This means that she can recognise clusters of chess pieces – and what they mean in the context of a game – in supercomputer time.
Elsewhere, the doco looks at the differences between the male and female brains and how Polgar’s case might have many precedents, not least that of Mozart.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Click here to watch the entire 47 minute documentary by National Geographic. It is currently being shown on TV in a number of countries right now. It will be shown in India later on this month.
I haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but I’m looking forward to it, and I’m delighted to see the whole thing is available online.
I love the chess pieces sailing through the air down the streets to New York. :o)
When will it be aired in the US?
Dear susan , i am a big fan of yours and think you are doing a wonderfull thing by promoting chess, but i disagree with the documentary when it states that, ” a genius can be made, and doesnt have to be born”, If a child studies the game of chess from an early age this does not mean he or she will become a genius, or a grand master, but the child will reach his or her potential to be the best they can be. What makes a genius is not how hard they work ( although, if a chess player did not work hard he or she would never become a grand master) its what genetics they are born with that makes grand masters, or a genius so rare and remarkable. for example Mozart was not a genius piano player just becose he worked harder than the other students in his class, its becose of his genetics and the talent he was born with, although if he did not work hard towards being the best he would never make it but no matter how hard a child worked that did not have it in him he would only ever reach his best potential wich would not amount to mozart, who was born a geniuse as yourself susan polgar.
But besides that, the doco was very entertaining!
Thank you for reading my comment and i hope to hear back from you,
a fan of your always,
– Bryce
1. No nurture, no nature -> poor.
2. No nurture, nature -> not bad.
3. Nurture, no nature -> very good.
4. Nurture, nature -> genius.
It takes both a natural talent and very hard work to be a genius.
ill have to agree, except for the small change i made..
1. No nurture, no nature -> poor.
2. No nurture, nature -> good.
3. Nurture, no nature -> good.
4. Nurture, nature -> genius.
I’ve just seen the doco- it’s very good. I was particularly amazed at the memory test- Susan easily reconfigured a board position that was taken from a game, from just a three second glance, but was clueless like the rest of us when it came to a board with the pieces placed at random- and the program explained why this was so.
Very entertaining and informative.
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Just watched through Google video. Great documentary. Any plans for anyone at SPICE to conduct similar experiments on other GMs to see if they also use the face recognition portion of the brain for chess patterns?
Do you think there is a difference between learning the patterns in 3d vs 2d (at a board vs in a book or on a pc screen) ?
I couldn’t edit the previous comment so I thought I would delete it and add this new one, but apparently it leaves that artifact saying I deleted th post. Sorry for the double post.