Innate talents

[Nora Merhar <MERHAR -at- ALENA -dot- BITNET>]

Robert, your most recent posting seemed to me to implay that innate talent
doesn't exist.

I disagree with the American credo "you can be anything you want as long as you
 work hard enough." It's not true. You need a combination of determination,
skill, luck, and, yes, innate ability. Some people can jump like Michael Jordan.
Others can't, and never will be able to, no matter how hard they practice. I'm
a good writer, but I'll never be a mathematician, and no, I'm not math-phobic--
I'm very good at balancing my checkbook, figuring interest, etc. I simply get
lost in all the abstractions, and what would excite someone who loves math just
leaves me cold.

While I think you can become COMPETENT at just about anything if you work hard
at it, to become really good at it--a shining example--requires an extra spark
that I would call talent.

I would also like to point out that most people who get degrees in English feel
that they have a talent for reading, writing, and analysis, because let's
be honest--If I had wanted to work really hard in college, I would have picked
a discipline like Engineering where I could have gone right out and earned a
lot of money. I had no idea what I could do with an English degree, but it
was like play to me. It was the only thing that I thought I could do really well
in.

Nora
merhar -at- switch -dot- rockwell -dot- com