>Without those beliefs, we've got some much harder questions to answer. Personally, I think precosity can be cultivated and refined into something great Very m

>Without those beliefs, we've got some much harder questions to answer. Personally, I think precosity can be cultivated and refined into something great Very much so, and sometimes ascribing genius is just shorthand for "I don't plan to try". More insidious is "talent", also held to be an intrinsic quality. But it turns out that "talent" is a trap for those who are talented. Talent is a trap: I came across this when watching a digital painting video, the host was relating how some of the people in art school were obviously talented and some were just slugging it out like he was. He noticed over time that the talented ones were more likely to give up at some point, and the sloggers were more likely to keep going and become successful making art a profession. The problem is that the talented are characterized by things seeming to come easily, but it's not an infinite ability and sooner or later they come up against some technique or assignment that is a problem and that will take real patience and work to get through. That comes as a real shock that can shake your confidence in your "talent", which was an illusion anyway. The sloggers have the advantage of always having to work hard to make progress, so everything is a struggle and the only surprises are when something goes easily. Those kind of expectations set you up better for success in a profession, which is just hard work in the end.