I'm not convinced such a thing exists. I don't mean to say I'm convinced it doesn't exist, just that.. how the hell could you be sure? What form would genetic traits for particular strengths take? I assume there's a not a guitar-playing gene, so.. what? A musical ability gene? A gene for particularly acute perception of sound?
When I was discussing that Flow book with a friend he mentioned this story. This inclines me against the notion of talent as a genetic trait. I also remember there being an anecdote in the book about a guy who, after 3-4 years of attending classical performances as a child, suddenly had an epiphany one day and went from loathing them to loving them. How does that happen? How would we have any way of knowing what was going on below the surface for the several years prior to that day?
My hunch - and it is purely a hunch - is that you can't be born with, say, a gift for music, but that a child could easily, without deliberate intention or awareness, develop one or more of the abilities (even in a completely different context) that also happen to contribute to musical proficiency.
it's a bit of both man. you are the creation of what was of the past, you are what you were brought up to be, and you are what you choose to be.
this situation is often a topic of discussion among my friend and i. it draws upon the concept of "metacognition", basically how do we actually learn and utilize what we have learned give different situations. There's a study out there that talks about the differences in problem solving approaches between geometry students and a math teacher who hasn't had geometry in years. The efficiency in failing and reapplying understood techniques to solve the problem.
that aside, i've done some more research on the topic of talent and practice. They are in fact intertwined, and especially at a younger age.
Here's my point; the younger you start something, the more proficient you will be over a life time of repeating that action. You play piano from 3-90, you're gonna be grand master sweg.
But how does talent develop? Unfortunately, many people have an overly simplistic understanding of talent. They view talent as innate, ready to spring forth given the right conditions. But this is not how talent operates. Gareth Bale wasn't born with the ability to score memorable goals. Talents aren't prepackaged at birth, but take time to develop.
SOURCEit does in fact exist, but you have to bring out your predisposition of life experience to utilize what you're best at.
i was talking to a professional mechanical engineer over mardi gras break, and he said this
You may not know what you're good at until some one tells you what you're good at
Basically, it only becomes real when you start to tap into it and begin practicing and working hard.
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