Where does our talents come from?

The other day a fellow Jedi posted on the Forum, about Art and Jediism. It got me thinking as do where do the talents that each of us possess come from?

Obviously we learn skills throughout our lives, but I'm thinking of those talents people are born with...natural abilities is maybe a better way of describing it.

Be great to hear other people's thoughts on this.

Hey Rob78,

I have a few followers of my Art because I am a graphic designer. Anyone who has seen the pictures fall in love with praise and [strike]typical gay comments[/strike] like "You are gifted".

My response is its not a gift its hard work and determination. I have a library of books on Art and Design I spent my youth drawing since twelve years old and I tell you this "I was[strike] fucking[/strike] shit at drawing". Then I learned geometry and perspective then I could draw a little better and then did work on life drawing, when women and men take their clothes off.

And even when I was fifteen I could only draw manga. Now that I am twenty six I can draw anything buildings, cars, humans. And I can draw them without guidelines and it takes seconds to draw. People watch me and are impressed and claim that I was Born with the talent.

I assure you I am not. To answer your question: the reason why I am good is because I was envious of my friend who seemed gifted to me. He also claimed that he had been drawing until his fingers bleed and also is not gifted.

However I believe this child is born with a gift Video below, she had a film made about her she is only Twelve!!

Ariane wrote: I have a few followers of my Art because I am a graphic designer. Anyone who has seen the pictures fall in love with praise and typical gay comments like "You are gifted".

I apologize for interrupting your thread, Rob.

Ariane, please be considerate of the many gay and lesbian people at the Temple by refraining from using the term 'gay' in that manner. Whether or not the majority of society feels its usage (as being equivalent to 'stupid' or 'crap') is acceptable, some people find it hurtful.

Also, regarding your language in the second paragraph... From TotJO's FAQ: "Post what you think is acceptable for an 8 year old to read (be it your own child or another) as this is in fact a family, and public, forum after all. If in doubt, leave it out."

Thank you for understanding.

I love drawing have since I was a child, I always tend to think that creativity is connected to the energy of the world. Anything that uses natural talent, imagination, creativity is like, at least to me, opening yourself to the energy and connecting with it in order to enhance your natural talent.
Yes you can improve and everything needs to be worked on. but I do think that we all have within us abilitys that lift us out of ourselves. We tap into so much more when we loose ourselves in our passions, our art or music and that, to me, comes from our connection with the all.
I think most people have natural connections to art forms and we loose this as children because we are taught that art must be this or that and it is at its base, a reflection of our individuality and uniquness.
Where does it come from? I would say it comes from our emotional connection and understanding of the world. From our spirit more than biology.
May of just confused that sorry :whistle:

I've always had the belief that natural talent doesn't really exist. I think it's a combination of your interest and inclination, along with hard work. You're most likely going to practice or do something a lot more if you enjoy it. If you grow up loving sports and you play tennis from a young age because you really love it you're more likely to pursue it on a competitive level and be considered a talented tennis player.

So for myself, I've been drawing since I was very young, and haven't stopped since. I may have had the inclination, but I wasn't able to develop a technical and compositional "mastery" until my passion was refined with study later on.

I've always been somewhat affronted when someone told me I'm so "talented" or "gifted" at drawing. I feel like it bypasses the hundreds upon thousands of hours of hard work I've put into my craft and dismisses it as something I was given for free.

I hope that this is the way the world works because people change what they love to do at different stages in life, While the mind may be most pliable when young, if we understand the fundamental learning process I like to think we can become masters at anything we set our minds to. Even if it hasn't been pursued since birth.

There's no natural talent. It's hard work, dedication, focus, study, passion and practice. I'd have to say compassion has a lot to do with most artistic forms too.

Take it from someone who picks up crafts like Beanie Babies when they were in fashion

I respectfully disagree there is no such thing as natural talent. I am a musician and teach students in grades 5-12 in instrumental music and have been doing so for the past 12 years or so. You can find them all over Youtube but there are plenty of videos within the music world where a child with no training or no training beyond the basics starts playing compositions way above their knowledge or ability level. I have met a few kids, some are autistic and others are not and they have had very little background and have not put in much time at all and can just do it. It is quite amazing to see in person. In regards to my own playing, I am a trumpet player mainly, I have had to work my tail off to get to the level I am at and I have to keep at it or else I take quite a few steps backwards.

How do I explain some of these more natural abilities, I believe when someone passes on back into the Force their energy obviously goes with it. When a new life is created some of that energy becomes part of the new life. If someone was a amazing pianist and passes on and part of that energy goes into a new life then those abilities to a certain extent go with it. Again, this is a very straight forward explanation and pretty simplistic on many levels and also just my own beliefs about how some pieces of the Force works.

Xhaiden you beat me to it :S

Kamizu wrote: There's no natural talent.

I would have to disagree. It is speculation on my part, however I believe that different people are born with affinities for different things. Have you never tried something new for the first time and performed oddly well?

I am not saying that anyone can be born with complete mastery over an art or anything silly like that, only that some talents come more naturally to some people. I firmly believe that you can overcome not having a "natural talent" for something with hard work and dedication and I firmly believe that one must hone their skills at anything they do have a "natural talent" for to master said talent.

I'll give you a band analogy because it is where I have some background. I play the trombone, which is a brass instrument. I started playing this instrument in fourth grade when I went to the band room for tryouts. I had no previous musical experience with brass or woodwind instruments so I figured I'd try both.

I started with the saxophone, and for the life of me I could get nothing other than a squeak out of the dang thing. I thought there would be no future for me in music, but then I was handed a trombone. The trombone felt pretty natural in my hand and before the music teacher could tell me what to do I put my mouth to the mouthpiece and started playing. I remember it pretty clearly, never having played a brass instrument before in my life, I buzzed out 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' clear as day.

I think it would be safe to say that I had some small amount of talent on the trombone, but a lack thereof with the saxophone. My friend however, was the exact opposite; he could get no sound out of the trombone but could play the saxophone with ease. Now I'm not saying either of us were amazing, but we performed better at our respective instruments than anyone expected. Now I'm nineteen and can play woodwind instruments just fine as well as the brass ones, while my friend never picked up a brass instrument again and still can't make noise with one.

I'd say the battle of nature vs. nurture still rages on, and anyone who pretends to have the answer is merely speculating as I have above. I offer no proof, only my own experience.

As to where these talents may come from there are some possibilities. Mayhaps genetics will explain it one day or maybe it has to do with the Force. I like the think that the energy that came together to make me at one point and time in the past also inhabited a previous trombonist and the energy echoes still to the present retaining some sort of "memory" or reflex from playing the trombone. The same would apply for all natural affinities.

Such is only my theory though. I encourage everyone to think on what they believe and decide for themselves. Taking my word for it would be cheating.

Keep on keepin' on and...

May the Force be with You,
Rai

i've met many people that have natural talent...never studied, never trained, yet can perform at a level beyond the novice level and some beyond the expert level....there are some that truly have natural talent, and there are some that have to work at it...i've never been taught leather craft, yet was able to begin crafting at a decent level....it seemed too easy for me...nearly everything i do i began with no training, study, or guidance...there are other crafts i put considerable study into before even attempting....

in the PERSONALITY TRANSFORMATIONS seriez prof peterson talks about the nature vs nurture as a false dichotomy
he says that our biologocal systems are constantly adapting to our environment in an interactige way which renders the idea that either is "dominant" in a definitive sense, across the board, as being inaccurate

i think its #5 constructivist

im pretty sure it was number 5 because he talks about piaget who was a pioneer in cognitive development theory
which translates practically into child development theory which obviously the nature vs nurture issue would be especially relevant

as to the OP i agree totally that there is a distinction between talent and skill

talent is natural and skill is earned with effort
they have a definite relationship but there is a difference