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11/30/2005 12:31:25 PM · #1 |
| Check out the Myth of talent pdf article on Radiant Vista website. |
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11/30/2005 01:15:45 PM · #2 |
Thanks for posting that. Pretty good article.
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11/30/2005 01:32:06 PM · #3 |
| I don't completely agree that talent is a myth. I know of a 5th year cello performance major who has wanted to do this for many years and still hasn't achieved the skill of many of the non majors. The desire is there, but something is missing to hold this person back. |
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11/30/2005 01:33:18 PM · #4 |
Thanks so much for posting that, I really enjoyed it.
It definitely struck a chord with me - when I was at school in my late teens I considered a career in photography as I really enjoyed it but, convinced I didn't really have the natural talent to carry it off, I chickened out. I can't say the idea was a hugely strong or overriding one at the time, so perhaps part of it was that I didn't want it enough.
Unlike many of my contemporaries I've never had a single-minded vision of what career I was desperate to do. I enjoy IT Training immensely but can't say I think of it as a vocation.
For that reason, I've been exploring ways of changing my career, at least part time, to something more creative and fulfilling.
I'm not sure what I'll choose and which path I take but I have always been a strong proponent of working to live not living to work and taking pleasures from life here and now, rather than saving them up for my old age.
Thanks again for sharing.
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11/30/2005 01:41:37 PM · #5 |
That was really well written and very thought provoking and substantive.
I agree with most of it. Thanks for posting it :) |
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11/30/2005 01:52:55 PM · #6 |
Lovely article. Thanks for posting it. The conclusions expressed by the author parallel what I discovered in my 25 years as a professional and sometime teacher. For every one of those years I had at least one assistant wanting to break into the business and for many of them a couple dozen students of varying degrees of "talent" and determination.
What I discovered is that talent is highly overrated, albeit nice to have. Particularly when speaking of "professional" photography attitude and sheer determination to learn and prosper trump talent every time. I can't tell you HOW many assistants I had who showed wonderful talent, even brilliance, in their portfolios and who proved totally unable to function effectively in a professional environment.
And for those who'd dream of being "freelancers", envisioning themselves shooting what and when and how they wanted to and making a living off the results, the bar was even higher. It's true in any field of "creative" endeavor, that talent and ability can only take you so far; the rest of the journey is made on willpower, dtermination, and willingness to set and accomplish realistic goals.
I'm sort of poster child for alternative careers; though my main "career" was architectural photography and, to a lesser extent, teaching, I also succesfully earned a living as a writer, a graphic designer, a sailmaker, and a chef, and for a time owned a fishing tackle shop and was somewhat noted locally for my custom rod building. Then, in the middle of all that, a relatively short time ago, I wanted to make more money and went into the corporate world during the dotcom boom.
I've always taken to heart Goethe's words:
Whatever you can do, or think you can, begin it: boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.
I've dedicated myself my whole life to just DOING whatever it is the best I can do it, and never looking back. I'm relatively poor, at the end, but I get by and it's been a trip :-)
R.
Message edited by author 2005-11-30 13:54:21. |
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11/30/2005 02:00:40 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by bear_music:
What I discovered is that talent is highly overrated, albeit nice to have. Particularly when speaking of "professional" photography attitude and sheer determination to learn and prosper trump talent every time. I can't tell you HOW many assistants I had who showed wonderful talent, even brilliance, in their portfolios and who proved totally unable to function effectively in a professional environment. |
Bingo! So true! I run into people ALL the time who have talent, but lack even basic social skills- let alone professional communication and organizational skills.
I believe there are a lot of very talented folks living on the streets - or barely getting by. Talent is but one ingredient for a successful career and it is not the most necessary - even in show business - geez don't get me started there. ;-) |
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11/30/2005 02:13:49 PM · #8 |
I don't agree wholly that artistic ability is a learned trait. Some people have innate skill, others have less. I do agree that active learning is a necessity to achieve a high level of competence.
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11/30/2005 02:21:16 PM · #9 |
Sometimes the best "talent" to have is to be too dumb or stubborn to listen to people when they say you can't do something.
Everyone who is thought of as great is someone who broke the rules and made their own.
Talent consists of luck, skill and LOTS of work..
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11/30/2005 02:23:17 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
I don't agree wholly that artistic ability is a learned trait. Some people have innate skill, others have less. I do agree that active learning is a necessity to achieve a high level of competence. |
The point here would be that "artistic ability" is overrated when it comes to making a career out of photography. Sure, if you have absolutely NO sense of proportion and composition and aesthetic value you will be limited in how high you can reach, but PLENTY of working pros are short in the aesthetic area...
R. |
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11/30/2005 02:25:33 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
I don't agree wholly that artistic ability is a learned trait. Some people have innate skill, others have less. I do agree that active learning is a necessity to achieve a high level of competence. |
I always think of nature vs nurture in terms of baskets.
For each skill, we are born with a basket, some big and some small - that is the nature part of it (i.e. talent).
As for the nurture part - we LEARN.
There is a limit to how much we can stuff into our basket, but a very full small basket still holds more than a near-empty large one. |
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11/30/2005 02:35:10 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Beetle:
I always think of nature vs nurture in terms of baskets.
For each skill, we are born with a basket, some big and some small - that is the nature part of it (i.e. talent).
As for the nurture part - we LEARN.
There is a limit to how much we can stuff into our basket, but a very full small basket still holds more than a near-empty large one. |
Interesting way to look at it.... I tend to think that talent also affects the speed you can fill the basket in this metaphore but overall agree. |
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11/30/2005 03:43:40 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
I don't agree wholly that artistic ability is a learned trait. Some people have innate skill, others have less. I do agree that active learning is a necessity to achieve a high level of competence. |
I agree that there is such a thing as innate skills. Some are simply better at some activities when they first try them than others are. But success in most areas is down to much more than innate skill - you have to practice/ learn/ improve and build up one's talent regardless of how much or little one starts with, you also have to harbour the courage and conviction to put the talent to use and you must have a whole heap of other skills (including communication, business sense and many others) to make a career of it.
We've all come across one or even a few individuals who have failed to improve their skills in a certain area despite genuinely giving it their all, despite their dreams and very best efforts.
In many areas though, particularly in artistic ones, most of us can certainly nurture a talent that may not be based on an innate gift to start with.
Message edited by author 2005-11-30 15:45:36.
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