Talent or strong desire & hard work ?

[drooxy]

Hi everyone,

In one of my prior posts, I already mentionned a very famous poet/composer/interpret here in France (his name was Jacques Brel and he was actually coming from Belgium) who said one day:

"I am certain that talent does not exist ! What exists, is a strong desire to do something and then, it is only a matter of rigor and sweat !"

I thought it could be a good subject to discuss...

So, what are you guys thinking ?

Cheers,
Drooxy

[willcowskitz]

More or less, I agree.

Some people have boundless interest in certain things and this keeps them searching for answers with open mind. Open mind is a prerequisite for learning.

To bring back in a quote of Thomas Edison: "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

[Saturn]

Drooxy:

Short answer: Yes, there is definitely such a thing as talent.  But whether one decides it exists or not makes no difference.


Long answer:

Discussions like this always end up being issues of semantics.  After all, whether talent exists depends on how you define it.

Everyone has a different idea of talent.  When some people think of talent, they think of a child prodigy with great technique but little musical maturity.  But when others think of talent, they picture those who, without any formal musical training, without even knowing how to read notes, are able to learn to improvise on the piano, which is something that many with training cannot do.  Other people think that talent is merely the passion and dedication required to work hard.  Each person's idea of talent isn't right or wrong, but just a part of the picture.

Because great musicians must (and do) possess "talent" in every area.  No pianist ever became great without dedication or passion.  Or without an ear for musical expression.  Or without good technique.  Or without efficient practice methods.

If I had to, I'd probably break down the influences of talent something like this (based on pure speculation) :

20% inborn traits
30% upbringing
50% personal choice

- Saturn

[willcowskitz]

To form talent into a more generic idea; Talent is something that one possesses without having been taught to, it is a base that is more probable to hold certain skills on it than that found in average.

Still, there exist the genotype and fenotype, which define what we are. Another quote that suits this topic: "Every child born is a potential genius."

(don't know who said that, sorry)
It depends on what kind of inspiratively ignitive things you offer the child's open mind, if he'll be able to find his area of 'genius' and develop it to fullest. Children are always blessed with the endless curiosity, and it should be taken advantage of during their early years by exposing them to as many different interests as possible and try read from their behaviour which they are most keen with.

[Tash]

i think to a certain extent there is such thing as talent, however i think it's only really a result of peoples' interests in certain things. like generally if you really love something then you're going to be good at it because you're willing to put in the work that's required to become really good at it.
of course, some things just come naturally to people, but even those who aren't naturally as good can become just as good, or even better if they are prepared to put in the work for it.