Epigenetic landscape(process of change over time)
Epigenetic landscape (time= epi, and change/creation=genesis, as derived from the Greek, referring to the process of change over time)
Each potential pathway is dependent, in part, upon the starting conditions, and of course of what occurs following those starting conditions. Importantly this principle is not exclusive to personality development. Rather, the rise to complexity for all sophisticated traits can be viewed in such a manner.
The ball at the peak of the rough-terrain can be likened to the individual in question, with the bumps along the track alluding to the complex genetic-environmental interaction one will experience throughout a lifetime. If one imagines the ball(or person)being released from the top of the slope, a hypothetical developmental pathway can be viewed. Perhaps the ball will roll down the first slope veering towards the centre, yet despite building up momentum fall to breach the middle hump, and in doing so cannon back towards the left field area.
Of course, the exact opposite could occur, wherein the insufficient speed of the ball to breach the middle hump in the first example may be greater in another set of developments, and as a result the individual will be drawn towards a different life trajectory, perhaps with very different outcomes. The epigenetic landscape is of course a rather crude representation of the sporting developmental trajectory, and in reality one will be exposed to a far greater panorama of bumps in the road. However this illustration provides us to visualise such a complex process.
This short essay is extracted from – The Making of Champions- Roots of the Sporting Mind by Gary Lewis
