I have always been fascinated by people's understanding of the concept of talent. I have heard many times in the artistic world that you either have 'it' or you do not. I am curious as to what people think 'it' is, and can 'it' be learned, or must you be born with 'it'. I am of the belief that, barring physical impediment, anyone can learn to achieve at a high level of proficiency at any art (or just about any task, for that matter). There may be a small genetic variable in the elite of any field (a long legged person is genetically predisposed against being a good sprinter), but this accounts for a very limited number of people. I pose this question, because I have worked hard to achieve what level of ability I have in my field (music and art), and I find that comments about talent devalue the work that I have done, and imply that [COLOR="White"]Go[/COLOR]d (or something) gave me these abilities, and I deserve no credit for them.
So, what do you think talent is, and where do you think it comes from? Is it real, or just a myth?
edit: please elaborate on your posts!
Certain talents are definitely only born. Others, not so much. And that's that.
Care to elaborate on those talents? In your opinion, which ones are you born with, and which ones are you not born with, etc.
I think that some things you're either born to do or not to do, and some things you pick up along the way. :)
I guess since you can be talented or skilled at pretty much anything, I'll pick one example and explain the way I see it based on that.
Drawing. I know people who are definitely predisposed to have artistic ability. The way I see it, this predisposition can be cultivated(with practice) to become real skill at whatever it is they have practiced. However, I'd say this "talent" doesn't really put them leagues ahead of others, but they are at a certain advantage.
Another factor in being "talented" or not is your mindset and the views other people project onto you. If you keep drawing because people say you have talent, and you really do, you're probably going to find it pretty easy to keep getting better and better. On the other hand if you tell yourself that you can't draw anything beyong stick figures, so no one expects you to do any better, you're never going to do much more than just that. I'm not sure what would happen if you sucked and people told you that you had talent. You'd probably continue to suck, thinking that you were doing well. A large number of accounts on deviantart come to mind.
I believe talent does exist to an extent, though I also believe it's a word too overused, and a concept too often oversold. I'm always seeing or hearing comments like, "wow, that's an amazing picture. It so well done. You have incredible talent!" I doubt many people can actually distinguish between "talent" and "skill," or even bother to recognise that there is one. If they did, they realise it would be much more complimentary to tell the artist that he has remarkable skill. You touched on this already, but skill is something that takes effort, determination, persistence, and plenty of time and patience to develop. Talent, on the other hand, denotes some specialized aptitude that somehow has always been a part of you, without you even necessarily knowing it yourself. Talent aids the skill, but it is skill that produces the final product. I do agree that I would find a compliment about my skill to be much more meaningful than a remark about how 'talented' I am. To me, calling someone talented is almost like saying, "you're just so **** good, I bet you don't even have to try that hard because it all comes so natural, doesn't it?"
I think what we call talent has much to do with genetics and inherent abilities, beyond just obvious physical advantages in certain fields. It may be nothing more than a set of particular characteristics and strengths, physical and mental alike, that all happen to mesh together in such a way that gives a person a genuine advantage over most others in some particular field. For example, a great singer obviously has to have a voice others will find pleasing, and one that is fit for hitting a wide range of notes. That singer will also have to perform well in front of an audience if anyone is to recognise the excellence of his or her singing. He or she has to be motivated enough to practice singing regularly, and needs to be inventive enough to use his or her voice creatively. But of course, no one is born a superb singer, and many people will never be one no matter how hard they try. Some just have much better potential to become great singers. I believe I have a "talent" for photography because I have excellent vision, am very observant and attentive to the most minor of visual details, and have a creative knack for framing things. For the first couple years I tried it, though, my digital photography looked like crap compared to how it does now, and I still have a long way to go in developing my skill.
One's talent is merely his base potential to become a master at some particular skill given years and years of practice and training, and I believe that's about as far as it goes.
The talent of giving birth?
I feel sad that sometimes people have the tendency to use the "talent card" as a wheelchair for their ego. "I am smart, but lazy." "Oh I can do that, I just don't care." In a time where things need to be done more than said, I am more interested in what a person will do rather than what Ia person can do - because, really, what does the latter really mean?
As for talent itself, I think Raptor makes an excellent point and I don't feel like reiterating a point.
I think that talent has to do with both innate awareness of the parameters of your expertise, and also simple practice of what you do.
An exhibitional pilot, for example, has incredible skill but also some talent. To be able to gracefully move through the sky at high speeds and low altitudes, he or she needs to know every minute detail of his or her aircraft, the weather conditions, how the craft will respond in said conditions, and how work with the members of his or her crew as they all do this. Those are basically skills. However, not every pilot is going to be a good exhibitional flyer - it takes an ability to handle lots of stress in an incredibly dangerous situation, and actually enjoy it. And then to perform the manuvers aesthetically, and so forth. This is where a certain amount of "talent" comes in - these pilots will really just enjoy what they do, and they will be, more or less, "naturals" when it comes to balancing all of these factors at once, sucessfully.
I think you can apply this to art, music, etc. While anyone can learn the technical details of something, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to produce aesthetically pleasing material. Your innate ability to sucessfully use all of these technical skills is what makes you the recognized painter/musician/etc that you are. You need to master the technical skills, but be able to utilize them in an artistic manner. That simply cannot be learned, and not everyone can do it.
I do not believe that some people are born artists and some just arent. It takes practice and dedication. yep, dedication is the key. If a person does not believe he is good enough, therefore he thinks he isnt good enough and won't try. For instance, I used to be a crappy artist. I would draw a deer and people would think it was a squid. but I kept going nine looooooooong years and, well.... I probably still suck at drawing, but at least people can see what I was trying to draw XP
And besides, who's to say whether an artist's work is good or bad? There are different consumers for each facet of work. I mean, c'mon, in the news it showed this drawing by some (now) famous person that sold for several hundred thou. The drawing was terrifying, but *someone* liked it if they were willing to drop all that dough.
I believe if your dedicated enough you can do pretty much any thing you wanna, but i guess bein double jointed and wierd stuff like that you gotta be born with.
I can't do ****ing Sudoku for anything. I try and get a few right but I just end up cheating. I don't know if that takes talent or skill. :(
Not everyone is patient and not everyone is capable of deductive reasoning. See War Board.