Poll of the Day > Does anyone else have an extreme hatred for talent?

(+) Yeah! (+)

[rant notice here]

I think its so stupid that you can be struggling at something you have a passion for, but the dude next to you just gets it like its nothing. And whats even more infuriating is that people worship it the way they do. One of the go-to words for praising skill is talented. It feels like a lazy excuse on both ends. If they were considered talented or praised for having a gift, than some people just sit around and wait for their gift to take you to the top. If youre considered untalented it can discourage you from engaging in the things you like because you think youll never be good at it. I was in a gifted class in elementary school, and 8-year-old me thought they were the goddamn bomb because they were just naturally smarter than everyone that should bow before their amazing knowledge. I think the idea that talent determines your future gives talented people overinflated egos and untalented people low self-esteem.

imo

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A lot of talent comes from practice. Even a lot of people that seem like naturals have put in a lot of time and effort, it just doesnt always seem that way.

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That's a shit way to live your life

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Some people are just better. Period.

And that's not to say practice won't improve things, but think of it this way:

Person A learns much more slowly than person B. But with enough practice with a specific skill, both A and B can be evenly matched with the certain skill. But since person B develops his skills faster, he has more time to learn more skills while person A is still stuck developing the first skill. So then with enough time, person be eventually becomes multi-talented and straight up better than person A in every way. And if there is a way in which person B isn't better than person A... well, he can just put in a bit of practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TCX90yALsI

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I don't agree. When I play bass I get better at it. 99% of talented people have worked hard.

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No. You get what life gives you and make what you can from it. It does not help me in any way to hate that some things might come a bit easier for others. There's no need for me to be concerned about what other people do or compare myself in that way to them. I'm happy with the things I can do and try to always work on the things that need improvement.

Naruto_fan_42 posted...

If youre considered untalented it can discourage you from engaging in the things you like because you think youll never be good at it.

So don't do that.

I had a natural talent for math and academics. I rode that all the way to a good, well-paying career and all is well.

But one of my hobbies is model-painting and let me tell you, not only do I not have a talent for that I am extremely untalented at it. Non-written art has never been a forte of mine and despite several decades of practice with modelling now, I am, at best, middling in my talents.

Do I let that bother me? No. I enjoy what I do without comparing myself to others. When some of my friends show off stuff that is better painted than anything I can manage, I congratulate them and am genuinely happy for them. And I consider my attempts at building up a skill that I have no natural talent for to be a good personal development exercise, as it helps build patience and perseverance.

What you're describing in your post has a name: jealousy. Don't let it rule your life unless you want to spend a far greater chunk of it than you should being unhappy.

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I have a hatred for talentless people, who claim they're passionate at something but spend all day smash a square block in a round hole like a 2 year old, it's unbelievably frustrating to watch.

The idea that hard work alone determines your future gives morons an overinflated ego when they grind to achieve piddly nonsense. They're embarassing and I wish they'd stop wasting everybody's time investing their lives in things they will never be successful in.
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i would be more constructive but tc drinking on so much h8erade theres no point

do better and stop being a fucking victim

also look up growth mindset by carol dweck

u big baby

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Is this about Sasuke or Neji?

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Read the following article. I teach my students this concept to help them overcome anxiety in learning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

You're at the "consciously incompetent" stage. That's the most uncomfortable stage to be at. You need to recognize that further practice and effort is needed to escape from that stage. There's no way to move down to the "ignorance is bliss" stage of unconscious incompetence.

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I have a hatred for irrationally bitter people.

Just kidding, I don't hate them, but I like to avoid them as much as humanely possible.

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Some people are skilled at one thing, and not at all skilled at anything else.

I would consider myself a talented programmer, but there are plenty of people more talented than I am. I would also consider myself deficient in basically every other endeavor I try to peruse in life, to the point where I have faced long term depression my inability to be good at video games for example.

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No, I'm not a naturally bitter person.

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Also lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4aSgz5KL3s

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No. I'm talented.

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Judgmenl posted...

Some people are skilled at one thing, and not at all skilled at anything else.

I would consider myself a talented programmer, but there are plenty of people more talented than I am. I would also consider myself deficient in basically every other endeavor I try to peruse in life, to the point where I have faced long term depression my inability to be good at video games for example.

Im not good at video games either but I still love playing them

sometimes it actually increases replayability

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The problem with the opening assessment is that "talent" can have a skill component. Most talented people worked their ass off to get talented. There are some who are talented in one thing seemingly automatically, but usually that's because they developed proficiency in related areas and those skills transfer. For example, if you speak three languages, you might have an easier time picking a fourth language especially if that language has a common origin to one of the other languages. If it's a sport, the fact that you're already athletic from something else could give you can edge.

And most people with talent tend to downplay what it took them to get that talent, because trying hard isn't "cool" in today's society.

Intelligence is a bit different, since some people are going to be naturally more intelligent than others (part of which comes down to having a good memory; you can train your memory, but it's not necessarily as easy as other things). However, even there you'll have people praised for being intelligent who put in a lot of work -- either consciously or unconsciously -- to get there. If somebody has a broad base of knowledge, they had to do something for that knowledge.

People tend to look at the naturals when it comes to most things, either not realizing that there was something that went into that natural ability (such as elements from their upbringing or other hobbies) or that they're an extreme outlier.

However, broadly speaking, talent isn't a real indicator of success because there are LOTS of talented people out there who work hard. And it isn't always the most talented people who ultimately succeed, because there are other things that go into success, including other unrelated skills, networking, and luck.

As for the influence of talent on success, a lot of people who believe that they're good at something can also put more effort into that area. And people tend to like things that they're good at and vice versa. Even if somebody isn't necessarily talented in something that interests them, that interest can keep them going until they become talented. (Otherwise, a lack of ability has never stopped people from doing what they enjoy -- just look at everybody who sings along with songs they like.) However, a lot of interest can be very surface level. Namely, people can like the product or end result of talent, but not actually enjoy or be interested by what it takes to create it.

And I should mention that even perseverance can be learned and improved, if somebody cares to work on it.

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faramir77 posted...

Read the following article. I teach my students this concept to help them overcome anxiety in learning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

You're at the "consciously incompetent" stage. That's the most uncomfortable stage to be at. You need to recognize that further practice and effort is needed to escape from that stage. There's no way to move down to the "ignorance is bliss" stage of unconscious incompetence.

Thats called being a teenager

Also ppl saying talent is built up through hard work, thats not talent. Thats hard-earned skill. I refuse to accept that some people are just inherently better than me and I should just go suck it because Ill never beat them. Thats how class systems come into being and we all know how that goes. I want to work in robotics when Im older, and if I end up being absolutely terrible at it then Ill just study harder. Every person that says just accept it when someone beats me is more motivation for me to demand a rematch. This is why I never get to Elite Smash.

also lmao at h8erade

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Naruto_fan_42 posted...

Thats called being a teenager

Also ppl saying talent is built up through hard work, thats not talent. Thats hard-earned skill. I refuse to accept that some people are just inherently better than me and I should just go suck it because Ill never beat them. Thats how class systems come into being and we all know how that goes. I want to work in robotics when Im older, and if I end up being absolutely terrible at it then Ill just study harder. Every person that says just accept it when someone beats me is more motivation for me to demand a rematch. This is why I never get to Elite Smash.

also lmao at h8erade

well, good luck with all that

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Naruto_fan_42 posted...

Thats called being a teenager

Also ppl saying talent is built up through hard work, thats not talent. Thats hard-earned skill. I refuse to accept that some people are just inherently better than me and I should just go suck it because Ill never beat them. Thats how class systems come into being and we all know how that goes. I want to work in robotics when Im older, and if I end up being absolutely terrible at it then Ill just study harder. Every person that says just accept it when someone beats me is more motivation for me to demand a rematch. This is why I never get to Elite Smash.

also lmao at h8erade

You're just arguing semantics now. Anyone who has been told that they are talented had to have put hard work into developing that talent. I'm not even sure why you would think someone who has talent wouldn't have to work hard. It seems to me that you just think you would deserve more praise if you have to work harder at something than someone else. That's pretty selfish to me. People who have natural "talent" for things didn't have anymore control over that than you would for not having natural "talent."

This guy seems to have never read about or watched anyone who's an elite in their field. The cream doesn't just rise to the top on talent. Indeed a lot of talented people never make it to that level because they too lazy (it takes many thousands of hours in whatever field to be become elite) or unlucky (born into poverty, injury prone, illness etc). In the poverty case some overcome that but a far greater number slip through the cracks and never amount to anything. This isn't a cartoon where you are born with superpowers.

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I actually admire talent. I'm also at times envious. Just because I don't have something and probably never will doesn't mean I want others to go without. Hell without good talent I wouldn't even have the things I enjoy for the most part.

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Any talent is just a learned skill where you've broken down the components to a complete understanding of the craft

I have no comments on "being a natural" because I'm not a natural at anything

I can make music, but I can't play instruments or mix/master like pros do

I can do some art, but I can barely draw

It's all stuff you experiment with, study, learn... and apply yourself towards (and is best if you actually enjoy it / yourself whilst doing so)

There are ways to "cheat", or cut corners, as well, of course, lol

But a talent is only as good as how far you are willing to go to improve upon it or make progress, and the time you spend doing so. So basically, efficiency is key. Also, you be your own judge before anybody else - because the idea that "talent" is something that comes from the feedback, rave, or enjoyment of others is kind of just a secondary or opinionated thing... Just be the best you that you can be, first, don't worry about pleasing some snoot unless you're trying to make money

Just enjoy the crafts

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Hatred is my only talent.
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I don't usually begrudge talented people their talent; because if they're talented at something that I'm not, it's usually because they're more passionate about something than me.

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No. Life isn't fair. If I was good at literally nothing, maybe I'd be bitter, but I don't begrudge people for good genes or hard work.

Hard work is admirable, but I find it kind of discouraging that two people can work the same amount at the same thing and one ends up vastly better, or that what separates the elite level of skill from the best of the best is talent because theyre all working hard.

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I really only hate talent in sports, and thats usually because they always seem to beat my team, like Aaron Rodgers, fuck him

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A lot of well adjusted zen masters in here never frustrated at anything beyond their control.

I think it's frustrating and overall I'm quite naturally talented at a lot of things but even then, theres always someone better.

People love to espouse hard work but at the highest level everyone is working hard and at the point only talent and luck let you reach the top. In anything competitive thats really damn frustrating. There's also cases where the literal best actually doesn't work that hard. They just have such a large skill gap that they can win regardless. I recall some professional fighters being this way, known for rarely practicing and yet still reign as the champion. Of course, usually the gap at the top isn't large enough to allow that, but it certainly can end up that way.

Of course, people have a misconception on talent. Being quick to pick something up barely correlates to your ceiling. Activities require sets of skills to be good but often times the skills that make the biggest impact will change as you improve. Being good at art early on might have more to with fine motor control whereas later on a better understanding of ratios, depth and lighting might make a bigger impact.

You really can't even know if you have talent in something until you've put your all into it for a long time and finally hit a ceiling you just can't overcome but even then, it's possible that you just need more time or some change in perspective. You will realistically never know how naturally talented you actually are. And thats also really frustrating. It means you can't even know if something is worth pursuing until you've potentially wasted years on it.

I don't think it makes sense to hate a person for their natural ability though. Not only is it not their fault, but even if it was, who wouldn't choose to be good if they had the option?

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No. Why would I be? Maybe they are better artists but I'm a better storyteller or something else and, well, sometimes certain people are just BETTER. But just because they're better doesn't mean you suddenly lose all self-worth.

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Naruto_fan_42 posted...

Hard work is admirable, but I find it kind of discouraging that two people can work the same amount at the same thing and one ends up vastly better, or that what separates the elite level of skill from the best of the best is talent because theyre all working hard.

It's understandable that you could feel discouraged because it does seem unfair at times. It just doesn't seem very helpful for you to focus on others rather than focus on yourself and the skills you'd like to develop. If you don't want to feel discouraged then don't worry too much about what others are doing.

I just dont want to be trampled by people that just get stuff quicker than me, or my own pathetic genetic boundaries to hold me back from pursuing what I like. I also dont hate talented people or think theyre all jerks, I hate the concept and reality of talent itself.

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Naruto_fan_42 posted...

I just dont want to be trampled by people that just get stuff quicker than me, or my own pathetic genetic boundaries to hold me back from pursuing what I like. I also dont hate talented people or think theyre all jerks, I hate the concept and reality of talent itself.

It happens to everyone. There's always someone that's going to be better than us at the things we like. I don't think we have to see that as a bad thing. There's always something we could learn from them by watching or talking to them. Maybe you could try to use it as motivation learn from them rather than discouragement.

GunslingerGunsl posted...

It happens to everyone. There's always someone that's going to be better than us at the things we like. I don't think we have to see that as a bad thing. There's always something we could learn from them by watching or talking to them. Maybe you could try to use it as motivation learn from them rather than discouragement.

What if it cant be learned because its innate? You cant become taller by watching basketball.

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Naruto_fan_42 posted...

What if it cant be learned because its innate? You cant become taller by watching basketball.

I've always been very short but I loved playing basketball all through high-school and college. I was pretty good especially for my size. There was never any chance that I would play professionally because of my height, but that didn't stop my love for playing. I learned to take advantage of my speed and ability to sneak around the taller players. Hell, there were people that were pretty bad that played with us sometimes but they had a lot of fun too. Your perceived limitations shouldn't dictate what skill you want to enjoy and develop to the extent that you can. All that aside, I think the shortest professional ball player was like 5'5" which is how tall I am. Lol

55 NBA player is the most pog thing Ive ever heard

also 55 gang Im a girl I dont think it counts lol

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Naruto_fan_42 posted...

55 NBA player is the most pog thing Ive ever heard

also 55 gang Im a girl I dont think it counts lol

Damn I'm almost a whole foot taller

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No me. But I do have a pretty extreme talent for hatred.


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