Do You Really Have a Talent, or Is It Just Luck?

[decibel]

talent?... maybe

u know how they say, that everyone has a talent, wut if you don't have a talent,and even if you did, how would you find it?

 

[renedox]

Just keep on living.

 

[jimmy p]

LOL i know the feeling decibel. I think my talent is that I am good at failing everything..looks like i picked a talent from the crap-bucket. No-one is talentless i suppose. Maybe talent is a particle, which infects tissues in the brain. And if there is talent, there has to be Antitalent, which i have plenty of! lol [b(]

 

[decibel]

i agree

 

[chroot]

You can bet the best cartoonist sucked for years before someone saw a cartoon and actually thought he was 'talented.'

The best violinist started off scratching her bow akwardly along the strings for years, before someone actually thought 'my, she's so talented.'

Sure, you might have a slight innate ability, maybe on the order of a few percent, over your peers in some activity or another. People will say 'some kids are naturally good at playing the violin.' The truth is that, no, all kids suck horribly at playing the violin. Some suck ever so slightly less than the others, but that doesn't make two ****s of a difference. They are rarely the ones who wind up on album covers.

You don't find talent. It is made.

- Warren

 

[Artman]

I think that chroot is right that talents need to be cultivated to be useful, however, I also feel that the person possesing the talent knows or senses that they have that talent.

I do work in several different arts, painting, drawing, sculpture, writing, drama and music to name a few. Of these arts, I have talent in some, but not in others.

I have no talent to perform music, yet I can play guitar, bass, violin, piano and drums. I just don't play them well. However, I do have talent for writing music. I could write music before I could play any instrument (I knew enough to write down melody lines and chords, but I couldn't play what I wrote). It's just something I sensed I could do.

So, is there something that you just say to yourself, "Hey, I can do that better than that guy, or better than that girl" because that may be your talent.

 

[Monique]

To affirm the previous posts:

Talent requires practice, it is not a given thing.

 

[Moni]

Hmm... interesting topic :)

1st I want to tell that:

Genius is not made, they born!

Einstein,Newton,Archimedes,Picasso,Vinci,Betoven...all are genius!

To get the talent of their level...I can say that's impossible without the gift of God :(

But if you try to improve your level you can reach at higher stage than other ordinaries go.

And must remember Edison's word:

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninty-nine percent perspiration."

 

[Gale]

yeah i agree with Moni.

i mean sure, you can learn something, and practice makes you better, but i dunno. actually, maybe my opinion's biased, cause I'm pretty gifted at anything i try... but i say its something your born with. Though, i really admire someone who sticks to it and works on it. I'd call that talent anyway. But there's tons of kinds of talents. I happen to be good at most of the conventional ones, but just like i'd say perseverence is a talent, so are tons of other usually taken for granted type things.

 

[rick1138]

Moni, that quote is actually Einstein's, and telling as well, becuse Einstein was not as naturally talented as many of his peers.

 

[Rook]

u know how they say, that everyone has a talent, wut if you don't have a talent,and even if you did, how would you find it?

Pursue that which makes you the happiest, usually there lies your talents.

You don't find talent. It is made.

Yes, but it begins with an initial desire to 'grow' in an area you admire, or in something that challenges you. True, someone may be passonate about the violin, practice for years, and never acquire a true talent for playing it, but there are many different avenues to discover with the violin. Maybe he can't play, but maybe he is skilled at crafting the violin, or writing music.


Anyways, the bottom line: Whatever you do, realize that talent takes time, and if you put in the effort, you will be rewarded. Look into what interests you the most.

 

[Artman]

Talent and not having a talent is like the difference between Mozart and Salieri in the movie Amadeus. Salieri through hard work attained fame during his lifetime, but his works, lacking the true spark of talent and genius, are now largely forgotten, while Mozart's are still well known.

 

[Monique]

Originally posted by Moni
Hmm... interesting topic :)

1st I want to tell that:

Genius is not made, they born!

...

And must remember Edison's *edit:Einstein's* word:

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninty-nine percent perspiration."

Maybe I am crazy, but aren't those opposites??

 

[jimmy p]

So i have inadvertently worked hard at being bad at things so that's a talent right? LOL I am just feeling down cos at the moment i am writing my university application and i know I am never going to get in. For my AS exams i got D's for chemistry and physics (only one or two marks off a c) and a U for maths. And i have an A-level in biology (grade E) which I am desperately trying to improve.

Looking at that, would you say i would be a good candidate to take ANY course at a decent university? I have a genuine interest in physics but i can't big myself up enough to cover a glaring grade U for maths. And its not like i don't try, all the teachers say I am working really hard!

Any advice? i can't play any instruments well enough to quit education and become a rock star and my drawing skills are reduced to Stick-men. I have no back up plan if i don't get into uni!
[b(]

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by Artman
Talent and not having a talent is like the difference between Mozart and Salieri in the movie Amadeus. Salieri through hard work attained fame during his lifetime, but his works, lacking the true spark of talent and genius, are now largely forgotten, while Mozart's are still well known.

I think that's a rather gross oversimplification of what constitutes musical genius. There are many other factors, social and otherwise, that elicit intrigue in the minds of consumers completely independent of any qualitative measurement of the product consumed. Consider how someone like Britney Spears climbs the proverbial chart without a hint of musical talent.

Of course, Mozart was a genius; no reasonable person could doubt this; however, where would he be without his equally (indeed, perhaps more so) motivated father? I'm not privy to much of Salieri's history, but the movie Amadeus would leave us to believe that his father was a simple man. Salieri had passion, but without the appropriate conduit (a motivated father like Mozart's) he was unable to exploit this.

This is why I give little regard to academic overachievers. Throughout the history of science ostensibly simpler people have achieved immortality (e.g. Faraday) through hard work; indeed, it's not the lack of genius that requires them to work harder; rather, the hard work has to supplement the lack of an environmental conduit (mentor, father, ...) to exploit this genius.

My tupence.

 

[Artman]

Parental encouragement will only help or hinder a child so much, if the child lacks or has talent in the given subject.

One of my friends is a talented writer and photographer of trains. I have known that since high school where we first met.

His parents didn't think that he could find work as a writer or photographer so they pushed him into accounting in college. Although very bright, he totally lacked mathematical skills, mainly because he didn't like the subject. Even so, he did alright. Got out of college and found a job as an accountant and hated it.

A few years later he applied for a job as the editor of a magazine about trains, a job that combines his true talents and his love of trains. He still works there and loves his job. Parental support may have gotten him there faster, but maybe not.

 

[Descartes]

I didn't mean to imply that an overbearing parent could simply elicit genius by forcing them into a given subject, but a good mentor (parent or not) can prove extremely valuable in nourishing a child's talents when an aptitude is discovered.

When I was about 4 or 5 I started playing the piano by ear after hearing my mother play, but most ignored my obvious interest. It wasn't until many years later that I was finally able to truly push myself, but by that time many years had been lost. You also have to consider the converse of my situation; parents who force their children into piano lessons at an early age, aptitude or not. It's obvious that most of these children don't grow up to be concert pianists.

I don't think people in a position to mentor should force children into something, but think of how many with aptitudes for a given subject go completely unnurtured and ignored.

It's a very disconcerting event when you reach an age that you're able to realize what you've missed. This is precisely what Salieri feels in the movie Amadeus; anger at those who didn't see his aptitude and offer a means to exploit it.

"If he didn't want me to praise him with music...why implant the desire? And then deny me the talent!"

He wasn't denied the talent, he was only denied the means.

My tupence once again.

 

[Moni]

Originally posted by rick1138
Moni, that quote is actually Einstein's, and telling as well, becuse Einstein was not as naturally talented as many of his peers.

May...be...But I've searched the web

http://www.quoteserver.ca/cgi-bin/d...ext=1&textbool=or&textword=genius&textwhole=1

http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=Thomas%20Alva%20Edison

 

[Moni]

Originally posted by Monique
Maybe I am crazy, but aren't those opposites??

http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=Thomas%20Alva%20Edison

Hmm... What I meant is that,

God gifted talents can't be earned! Look at Maradona...Pele... they are God gifted...Zidane, Ronaldo...they are not like them but of course they are talented :)

But to become successful in any era, only talents will not do!

What Edison meant is that you can walk side by side with the talented ones if you work hard...and seriously do you job!

But look...they'll get 99% of the whole success!
But if the talented ones also work hard they'll reach 100%!

That 1% is the difference between Perseverance & Genius!

 

[chroot]

It's good to know that Edison so strongly supported my view.

- Warren

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by Moni
http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=Thomas%20Alva%20Edison

Hmm... What I meant is that,

God gifted talents can't be earned! Look at Maradona...Pele... they are God gifted...Zidane, Ronaldo...they are not like them but of course they are talented :)

But to become successful in any era, only talents will not do!

What Edison meant is that you can walk side by side with the talented ones if you work hard...and seriously do you job!

But look...they'll get 99% of the whole success!
But if the talented ones also work hard they'll reach 100%!

That 1% is the difference between Perseverance & Genius!

You believe in God-given talent, but you only think he is responsible for 1%? I'm not trying to instigate an argument, I'm just curious.

 

[Artman]

I agree with your point chroot.

In the art world there are artists that have what they call facility. Which basically means they can paint or draw as well as anyone, almost without effort. You would think that with their talent, these people would be the greatest artists. The problem is they are often content to be good technicians and don't work enough for greatness.

This was the case with the Academy artists working at the same time as the impressionists. The academics were extremely capable painters, but they chose subjects that lent themselves to showing off talent, (neoclassical crap mostly) but not to furthering the contribution of art to the world.

Talent by itself is not enough and should be cultivated.

Quote by Descartes

...but a good mentor (parent or not) can prove extremely valuable in nourishing a child's talents when an aptitude is discovered.

Very good point. I agree completely with this.

 

[Moni]

Originally posted by Descartes
You believe in God-given talent, but you only think he is responsible for 1%? I'm not trying to instigate an argument, I'm just curious.

Hmm... I believe!

Thanks for your curiousity!

One thing... I forgot to mention: LUCK

Yes! You may work hard and of course serious but if you don't have "good luck" you won't reach 99%... You may reach 50% at least, but then...God has 50% in His hand...

And you may also 0% if your luck don't fevour and you die...then of course He is responsible for the whole 100%!

Hope you got the point