Does talent actually exist?

Do you think anyone can do anything they put their minds to, or do some people just not have the "talent" to play water polo, learn the piano,or do a back flip?

Rather, are Tiger Woods,Jean Corbet,orMary Lou Retton"talented," ordidthey justpractice and studyone particularthing for literally their entire life... which is why they becameso good at that one thing?

I believe that anyone can do anything and there is no such thing as "talent". Playing professional basketballor the french horn is not difficult, and does not take talent... just time to figure it out... or rather, practice.

When you're good at something, you have talent. In order to be good at something, you need to practice. So lots of practice leads to talent.

Practice leads to talent.Shottayouth13-

people are not created the same, ones with higher aptitude than normal have talent

Of course it does. I know a 14 year old girl who's never taken a singing lesson in her life and made it onto national television singing Celine Dion.

Most things come with practise but others you're just born with.

I think someone can definitely be gifted to extraordinary levels, as in having superhuman talent, like Mozart writing his first symphony aged 7 or whatever.

Obviously this is very uncommon. But sometimes people do seem to have a flawless aptitude for something.

Certain people are naturally better at certain things. People's minds work in different ways, and of course our bodies are all different. It just leads to everyone having their own unique set of things that they can do well, and things they aren't good at. Of course you can get better at the things you're not good at, but probably not a world class talent.

With golf for instance. Many, many people try their best to be good golfers starting from a very young age. But some just end up being really good at it, and the vast majority don't. You can call it "talent", or just say that their brains recognized certain things as being important, and acted as a good filter of information to decide what aspects of the activity needed to be focused on and which didn't, etc.

Yes, it's not some mystical thing people make it out to be though. If someone is more talented than another, that just means they have a more well developed area of the brain. In art some people grasp perspective easier and in music some people grasp composition easier. To say that talent in some form doesn't exist is just plain ignorant.

On another note, why are people talking about practice and hard-work? The thread question is just asking if talent exists in some form or not. I don't see what practice has to do with anything. Talent just means that one learns something faster than others if they're more talented. Practice with that talent means things go smoother and progression is more rapid.

Do you think anyone can do anything they put their minds to, or do some people just not have the "talent" to play water polo, learn the piano,or do a back flip?

Rather, are Tiger Woods,Jean Corbet,orMary Lou Retton"talented," ordidthey justpractice and studyone particularthing for literally their entire life... which is why they becameso good at that one thing?

I believe that anyone can do anything and there is no such thing as "talent". Playing professional basketballor the french horn is not difficult, and does not take talent... just time to figure it out... or rather, practice.

stiggy321

i believe it exists, i am one that try everything even if im no good at it, but i can tell you there are something that just comes naturally while other you absolutely fail. In the example of Tiger Woods, its talent, no matter how much someone play i doubt you or me can get that good.

yes there is,i can't be a decent musician no matter how hard i try yet i'm good at some stuff without even trying.

yes there is,i can't be a decent musician no matter how hard i try yet i'm good at some stuff without even trying.

VaguelyTagged

Just because you aren't talented at something doesn't mean you can't make a living off of it -- believe me, there are plenty of bad illustrators out there scrapin' by on money. Work hard at almost anything and you can make an okay living off of it (even if you don't have great talent)-- look at Rob Liefield.

Even slash used to suck at playing the guitar. But then he practiced 8 hours a day. Now people say he is talented.

Even slash used to suck at playing the guitar. But then he practiced 8 hours a day. Now people say he is talented.

The_Gaming_Baby

[QUOTE="The_Gaming_Baby"]

Even slash used to suck at playing the guitar. But then he practiced 8 hours a day. Now people say he is talented.

Lethalhazard

[QUOTE="Lethalhazard"][QUOTE="The_Gaming_Baby"]

Even slash used to suck at playing the guitar. But then he practiced 8 hours a day. Now people say he is talented.

mrmusicman247

[QUOTE="VaguelyTagged"]

yes there is,i can't be a decent musician no matter how hard i try yet i'm good at some stuff without even trying.

Lethalhazard

Just because you aren't talented at something doesn't mean you can't make a living off of it -- believe me, there are plenty of bad illustrators out there scrapin' by on money. Work hard at almost anything and you can make an okay living off of it (even if you don't have great talent)-- look at Rob Liefield.

haha,just because liefield doesn't follow the predetermined,alex ross-ish image of a super hero doesn't mean he's untalented.:P (personally hate him though), but really no i have never taken music seriously but i remember taking a course and i was like the worst in the clas$ ,btw as you mentioned yourself ,you may be able to make a living off it but you won' be able to be the best or make a difference,that's what i call talent.

It goes both ways. You can be naturally talented or you can practice to become talented.mrmusicman247

[QUOTE="mrmusicman247"]It goes both ways. You can be naturally talented or you can practice to become talented.silentexistence

[QUOTE="Lethalhazard"]

[QUOTE="VaguelyTagged"]

yes there is,i can't be a decent musician no matter how hard i try yet i'm good at some stuff without even trying.

VaguelyTagged

Just because you aren't talented at something doesn't mean you can't make a living off of it -- believe me, there are plenty of bad illustrators out there scrapin' by on money. Work hard at almost anything and you can make an okay living off of it (even if you don't have great talent)-- look at Rob Liefield.

haha,just because liefield doesn't follow the predetermined,alex ross-ish image of a super hero doesn't mean he's untalented.:P (personally hate him though), but really no i have never taken music seriously but i remember taking a course and i was like the worst in the clas$ ,btw as you mentioned yourself ,you may be able to make a living off it but you won' be able to be the best or make a difference,that's what i call talent.

Sure there is research of some genetic advantage in certain fields but it's nothing practice cannot overcome to become the best.

I'm pretty sure they can.

Even slash used to suck at playing the guitar. But then he practiced 8 hours a day. Now people say he is talented.

The_Gaming_Baby

there is adifference there, you may not have talent but if you practice a lot you will improve and get better.