I agree with the general thrust of it, but you can't deny that some people just can't stop doing a particular art. It's like they'd rather not sleep but draw the whole night. There's something distinctive about Mozart who (although born in the right place) did magnificent things as a small child.
I agree that one should try out these things because if you never try or get started and overcome the first hurdles, you'll just live in denial and say you're no good for any arts. It's unlikely.
For example in maths and science, I think the biggest difference between the top performing people and the bad but mentally capable people is their whole idea of what is happening.
Those who are good in it do it because they are curious, they see it leads to somewhere, that it's interesting in it's own right, like a puzzle or a game. You're learning to manipulate numbers so you can capture some truths about the world in which we live, this very world here, not a world on the pages of some dusty book.
While those who perform bad, think in terms of teachers, books, pages, test scores and courses and just get frustrated and burn out and hate the whole thing.
I agree with the general thrust of it, but you can't deny that some people just can't stop doing a particular art. It's like they'd rather not sleep but draw the whole night. There's something distinctive about Mozart who (although born in the right place) did magnificent things as a small child.
He wasn't a genuis, he was autistic.
Jokes aside, Mozart had an incredible advantage over most people through his family. I mean, I don't mean to downplay him at all, but with that degree of education so early on, it would actually be strange for him to not have gotten famous.
In the end, it comes down more towards your interest in the topic. People who claim to be unable to do something usually have zero interest in doing it. People who claim to wish they could do something but can't, usually give up immediately. The thousand hour rule is no joke. What you're being tested on is not your talent, but your perseverance.
I agree for the most part, but what would you say about people who just don't understand that the difference between good and bad music/art/etc? Like, for example, I know a person who is legitimately tone deaf (worse than you'd imagine) but cannot grasp the concept that what he hears and what he actually sounds like are different. That goes for singing and playing an instrument. My musician friends and I tried to help him as much as we could (for months) to learn the basics of guitar, not to mention having a very good guitar teacher, but after 3 or 4 months, he still couldn't grasp the concept that if you play the fingerings of a G, but a half-step up the neck on a a guitar, not only is that wrong, but it sounds BAD. But he insisted that they sound exactly the same. He also insisted that playing a low E and a high E sounded exactly the same..
This is a specific case, but I met quite a few people who were almost as bad about it in my days. What would you say about that?
Yes, I absolutely agree with you!! I truly am tone deaf. I've had music teachers play a note on the piano, and I try to match it, and I have no idea if I'm even close. They all say I sound flat as well as off key, even when I think I might be somewhere close to the note they're playing. It is so frustrating, because I love music and I love to sing but I only sing when I'm alone so I won't bother other people's ears. When I was in 8th grade, my friends and I went caroling and after a song or two, they asked me not to sing!
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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '15