Can Practice Overcome a Lack of Talent?

Dr Riggio,

Thanks! I have recently been indulging myself in the works of the late Bernard Bass, some of which you co-authored, I believe. I am no academic, but I do sense a solidity about all the works.

We tend to be rather reactionary by nature. That is why we are so susceptible to fashions and fads. Some research throws some light on a certain aspect of things, and we take it that it applies across the board.

I firmly agree that innate talents do determine the degree to which we are successful, or other wise, in any given endeavour. Benjamin Zahnder goes to great and worthy lengths to demonstrate that no one is tone deaf, but by the same token, not everyone who practises 8 hours a day can become another Benjamin Zahnder. That is one aspect of this thing we call, or miscall, talent.

What, Sir, is your definition of talent, and to what degree do you at this time think it determines success in a given endeavour? How do other factors interplay, and which are more important for us to accord greater priority to?

Just to know your thoughts.

Cheers!

I like to think up quotes sometimes and here is one I've been working on regarding this: "You're better than you think you are...but not as good as you'd hoped."

From the article:

wrote:

The results showed that, across a number of studies, the amount of deliberate practice only explained 12% of the variance in performance. This means that the vast majority of variance in performance is caused by something else.

Technique is a factor not mentioned in your article. For example, the task of throwing a football involves talent, practice time, and what coaches call "mechanics." If talent and practice time are equal, practicing a poor technique would severely limit a quarterback.

My brother in law shot an 84 the first time he ever played golf, and got his pro card the first try. He didn't start playing until he was about 17. He did not do well in tournaments though under the pressure. Had he "grown up" playing, doing all the junior tournaments, I'm sure he could have been a pro-golfer.

Practice there would have made him "great" but his athletic gifts would have been needed too. By the time I met him, I'd been playing often for 10 years and never broke an 84 once, with some very good instructors.

Some examples: My younger Sister came into this world with a lovely singing voice, truly a professional-quality voice, and try as I might I can't match the heart-breakingly beautiful vocal tones, range, and expressiveness she can achieve.

Our mother was very good at math and able to do complex multiplication and division problems in her head; neither my sister nor I can do that, unfortunately. I wish I could! Mother was also good at playing the piano and reading music. I've never been able to truly master a musical instrument and frustratingly I can't seem to read music well, but I do play pretty well "by ear" and can improvise, the way jazz musicians do. Dad was multi-talented at tasks that ranged from fixing cars to remodeling homes, teaching himself the guitar, telling a good story or a good joke as a public speaker, and oil-painting.

As for me, by age 6 I was already drawing at an advanced level; I found drawing completely absorbing and drawing with pencil and paper was how I preferred to spend my free time. (I had to be urged and even commanded to go outside and run and play physically.) I was earning money as a professional artist by the time I was 12, and still do. Today, I'm well-known in my field. I plan to continue drawing and painting (now via Photoshop) until I drop; I'm nearing retirement age now, but I still find expressing myself visually and solving problems (telling a story or expressing a mood visually) to be fascinating and challenging and, well, fun.

So, that's just my experience RE myself and my immediate family; it seems clear to me that inborn or innate talent or ability at least in our cases seems to have been a much greater factor than anything else in influencing the direction our lives have taken, and how well each of us has done in our chosen fields.

I've tried my hand at math and music and athletics and researched writing. I've never been very coordinated, I was nearly hopeless as a musician. I thought I was good at math, mainly I think because its such an unpopular subject in public schools. But in college I found I couldn't really keep up.

So what is someone supposed to do if they don't have any particular talents, nothing just absorbs them.

michael a new dunk or maybe any time struggling with a good airborne tennis ball? Can it be maybe there medically intended trim if your running shoe in which satisfies completely to your conforms with the legs, being sure it won't acquire unfastened from the warm of your some sort of.

the particular company whipped yet in relation to winnings, this situation guided monetary year 2012 income good what follows agreement.

this approach running shoe was compiled to be water resistant protected and simply shows a leatherette superior that includes a polyurethane cover.

It has a dash of popular rubbish hunter wellingtons take a look.

incorperate healthcare breathing filter as well latex safety gloves.

UGG selected Dun Bradstreet's SmartStream client/server cost strategies to manage his or her predetermined benefits, important ledger and furthermore details payable metabolism.

to heart, Favre has got to be my favorite on the hottie contact list seeing as, in the form of 40 something sweetheart, I know Favre enjoys most definitely increased significantly with each passing year.

folks need to learn how to rethink it all,

hoes absolutely help capture upwards making use of the trend industry. Kobe footwear is actually these kinds of comfy boots and shoes of which go well with both equally household as well as open-air pursuits. It's well-known that might be countless NBA well-known golf ball engage in.

p europe, corporation.

Deckers suddenly lost so many traction when you are an expert downgraded title two weeks within the, stating that UGG auctions happen to be this type of quarter had already been unsatisfying.

electronic timeless seem plus participate in a vital purpose since the significant attractive force in the total dor. Those that search for great lights for his or her residence dor is capable of having several kinds in addition to bulb tips whenever they decide on tiffany lighting fixtures. Generally there.

This does means that I will never be a good comic artist.