The idea that a you could put 100 people in a room with the best teacher, and they could all become excellent artists, is hopeful but naive.
Put 100 people in a room with the best teacher, and the 1 student that likes the subject the most will be the best student.
There’s different levels of interests between the students. A student that is very invested in the subject is going to learn more than a student that wishes they were doing anything else. That’s what happens when something “clicks” - when a student goes above and beyond the taught material because they’re always thinking about it. “Talent” is indistinguishable from enthusiasm.
Sure, there are literal cognitive differences between people, but 99 times out of 100 “talent” is just passion imo
It’s this. Everybody else’s take us missing this. I play a BUNCH of musical instruments, and when people are like, “Oh wow, how did you learn to play all of those. You must be so talented!” And I always say, “Time. Time and a lot of practice. And most importantly a LOT of patience with myself”.
The thing is, to get good at something, you have to be bad at it first. And many people simply do not have the passion to keep pushing through the part where they’re bad at it.
there is true talent though, that comes from having something that others in a given role don’t have. Think about Kareem Abdul Jabar, Usain Bolt, or Tiger Woods. Kareem is ultra tall, immediate advantage in basketball. Having even a modicum of hand eye coordination is an immediate jumpstart that others just wouldn’t have, and the innate advantage of being tall isn’t something someone can get with practice. Same with Usain Bolt, long legs, genetics that make him innately faster. Tiger Woods was golfing incredibly well at age 5. He of course would have been good at several sports, but the hand eye coordination was there, the skeletal structure that allowed these movements to be trained more efficiently.
Put 100 people in a room with the best teacher, and the 1 student that likes the subject the most will be the best student.
There’s different levels of interests between the students. A student that is very invested in the subject is going to learn more than a student that wishes they were doing anything else. That’s what happens when something “clicks” - when a student goes above and beyond the taught material because they’re always thinking about it. “Talent” is indistinguishable from enthusiasm.
Sure, there are literal cognitive differences between people, but 99 times out of 100 “talent” is just passion imo
It’s this. Everybody else’s take us missing this. I play a BUNCH of musical instruments, and when people are like, “Oh wow, how did you learn to play all of those. You must be so talented!” And I always say, “Time. Time and a lot of practice. And most importantly a LOT of patience with myself”.
The thing is, to get good at something, you have to be bad at it first. And many people simply do not have the passion to keep pushing through the part where they’re bad at it.
there is true talent though, that comes from having something that others in a given role don’t have. Think about Kareem Abdul Jabar, Usain Bolt, or Tiger Woods. Kareem is ultra tall, immediate advantage in basketball. Having even a modicum of hand eye coordination is an immediate jumpstart that others just wouldn’t have, and the innate advantage of being tall isn’t something someone can get with practice. Same with Usain Bolt, long legs, genetics that make him innately faster. Tiger Woods was golfing incredibly well at age 5. He of course would have been good at several sports, but the hand eye coordination was there, the skeletal structure that allowed these movements to be trained more efficiently.