talent is a myth? i couldn't agree more.
all one needs in my opinion is around 10 years experience in any traditional music program to understand that anyone can learn just about anything. the question lie in the motivation of the learner, the availability of the process, the awareness of the individuals involved, and the educational capabilities they have available (information, teachers, processes).
language is too often discounted as serious filter through which we evaluate our ability to comprehend everything from awareness to intelligence to wisdom at any given point.
so when we compare two 14 year old's reactions to the same set of requiremenets, instead of trying to understand the difference between them in ways that are relevant - we adhere instead to language and focus that may not really explain why the two react differently, but that give us a sense of accurate measurement.
so if one child has spent a lifetime swimming, because they were raised near a lake, while the other raised in a desert never having seen a body of water before - would it be so wise for us to assume that the former was a better swimmer, because they were naturally gifted?
too often social evaluation - especially systematic social evaluation, eg testing in schools - cannot identify the complicated factors in an individual's personal life experience which determine their relationship to a given task.
too often we find that assumptions made about a static concept of ability in an individual not only mispercieves deeper problems, it projects onto the potential student, a sense that they are not going to excel.
so someone who does not speak english very well, or understand WASP culture, may completely misinterpret an IQ test, and be told for much of their young life that because they have a low IQ they should expect to fail a lot, and focus on how not to.
imho, talent/artistry is a matter of awareness and practice (experience).
i think the traditional concept of talent being a static/"magic" thing, is a legacy of a world where humanity's top priority at any given point in education was to simply pick the creme of the crop. there were too many chiefs and not enough indians.
but today we face different problems as large groups of people, and indeed it would appear that ingenuity - or talent/artistry - is what the world really is going to benefit from more than perhaps any other product of society.
given that, it's time we realise that it is in our best interests to cultivate this kind of experience/awareness in all we can, so that as many minds in the world as possible are contributing to the process of generating ingenuity.
segmenting humanity back into structures where awareness is no longer possible - eg in the military model of organization, or the industrial/pavlovian model - then the only talent we'll run into are the freaks of society who refuseto participate, as is traditionally the case with history's greatest artists, creators and problem solvers.
i think if you were to take any child and shower them in a disciplined approach to cultivating real skill in talent, they would become a virtuoso. i think in fact most virtuoso's we encounter, have that very same situation at their disposal. mozart, winton marsalis, and tiger woods are three examples off the top of my head.
these are some exerpts from our organisational doctrines, which relate to the points behind this thread, apologies if they seem disconnected, i'm not trying to advertise anything, however, they do include some other angles of consideration on the issue, namely the dimension of time...
Creativity
“Imagination is more important than knowledge…”
- Albert Einstein
We disagree with the notion that talent is inherent in the human character - a static state of skill, which rarely can be improved or degrade over time. We strongly agree with proponents, e.g. Edward de Bono, that creativity is in fact a skill or ability which does need nurturing and practice to achieve any potential in. schmee has, as one of it’s primary goals, the desire to produce compelling arguments for this position, as well as vast amounts of material which stimulate this skill, and provide direction for those in search of even better creative skill.
We do not think creativity is limited in value strictly to forms of creative expression - but rather that creativity is a skill anyone can greatly benefit from (indeed, we believe it‘s often confused for ‘genius‘), and can suffer from by not addressing. Therefore, we hope to help everyone along in their motivation to get in touch with their creative skill and nurture it to some level of basic competency, but would also seek to help push the bounds of exactly what that means to society in general, and help provide the motivation for anyone to seek further improvement.
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Relativity
“Vote early and vote often.”
- Al Capone
Einstein was a brilliant figure on this subject, and one we’re quick to hoist up as an example of importance (thanks to his association in western civilization with brilliance and creativity specifically). However, Einstein is not solely responsible for this movement and the machinations of its implications, while of course, he remains it’s most famous contributor.
Relativity is not a light subject, nor does it need to be infinitely complicated. It can range in sophistication from the heights of academic study of its physical manifestations, to some of the most simplistic forms of Taoist ideology. It remains, however, an incredibly important tool for achieving awareness in this complicated world - relativity let’s us begin to understand the world's complexities, and how we might misinterpret them or respond negatively to them unnecessarily.
- - -
Education
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
- Mark Twain
When we say education, we mean the process of education itself. Among schmee’s members are varying degrees of education levels, from masters of arts to no formal education at all. We think most of the world’s educational systems do a great job of educating a small number of people, and thoroughly discouraging the remainder of the world, blessed with the access to such means. However, we do not view those engaged in this as having either the intention, or even malice in most cases, for such outcomes. Rather, we view this the result of institutionalized dogma and the process-oriented thinking of the 20th century, which renders most unable to even comprehend the impact of these dilemmas.
- - -
Time
“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”
- Will Rogers
Time is the dimension western society has great difficulty recognizing, perceiving, or even functioning within using any degree of malice. It could be argued that finance is simply a matter of understanding the dimension of time. Western society (and more recently, the entire globe, as it adopts western civilization standards and systems), while on the one hand mastering it’s physical reality, often has great difficulty understanding it’s emotional, spiritual and political realities within time‘s own dimensions.
Other truths lie in the investigation of this dimension; one might find deep anthropological truth in studying the rhythms of the world for example - the contrasts in their differences reveal much about the human character. Music would be perhaps the language of time, the artistry of so much music lies in a complete grasp of time’s deceiving properties and dynamics, as well as society‘s misinterpretations of it.
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and infant environment certainly has significant effects on later development. But I could learn Chinese starting tomorrow if I wanted, talent or no.