If we accept this individuality of the person as a fact, what, then,
is the importance of training or environment? Does not this
admission settle at once the contention of those who see no value at
all in a carefully-controlled environment? If this child is
_born_ without mathematical ability, what is the use of
drumming arithmetic into his head; or, if he is _born_ with
musical genius, why should we bother about teaching him music?--he
will "take" to it naturally.

The answer to these and similar questions is to be found in the
answer to another question, namely, "What is it precisely that the
child is born with?" Surely no child is ever born with the ability
to dance or sing or to do sums in algebra. When we say that a child
has musical genius we mean merely that as he develops we may notice
in him a certain capacity to acquire musical knowledge more readily
than most other children do, or a certain disposition to express
himself in melody, or a certain liking for music in some form, or a
certain readiness to acquire control of musical instruments. In
other words, the child is born with a capacity for acquiring certain
things, from the outside, that is, from the environment--he is born
with certain possibilities, which can become actualities only if the
suitable conditions are provided. In the same way one child is born
with a capacity for exceptional muscular development, and another
for exceptional self-mastery. But in every case practice makes
perfect, the muscles must be properly nourished and exercised, the
will must be trained--and that means suitable environment.

Now, while every individual is unique, not every child is a born
genius. The distinctiveness of each child lies in the fact that he
consists of a _combination_ of capacities and tendencies, each