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> " anyone who says otherwise is either lying " Often to themselves in my experience. People who've not yet discovered any of their own talents are sometimes

> " anyone who says otherwise is either lying " Often to themselves in my experience. People who've not yet discovered any of their own talents are sometimes bitter at the suggestion that talent is a real thing.

dragandj 7y ago
I think it is the opposite: there is a huge number of people in any nation, so talent is abundant. The thing is that at the top tier everyone is talented, and usually the dedication and factors other than talent, including luck, is what makes the difference.
- toasterlovin 7y ago
  FWIW, it’s pretty clear to anybody who watches pro sports that talent differs dramatically even at the highest level.
  - dragandj 7y ago
    I am not sure that most people that watch pro sports have knowledge to judge the fine details. What is pretty clear to anybody is that someone plays better, but what is not clear is why is that so. For every dominant pro athlete there might be many that were injured or had other problems that degraded their performance.
    - toasterlovin 7y ago
      It's pretty clear to even unskilled watchers that, for instance, Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neil are/were talented in a way that no players before or since were. Both players can move with the speed and agility of payers that weigh 50 lbs less. And if it's true that innate talent is the major differentiator at literally the pinnacle of the sport, why would one assume that it somehow ceases to be the case at the levels just below that? Especially when every single professional player has access to the same resources and hours in the day for the practice and training aspect of sports performance? And, FWIW, Shaq was notorious for his poor work ethic. He never practiced basic skills (free throw shooting) and always started a new season overweight and out of shape. Then there's the fastest person who ever lived, Usain Bolt, who trains less than a motivated amateur cross fitter.
    - puranjay 7y ago
      The truly greats in most sports just seem to have something "extra" that can't be earned by practice and skill alone. Their reflexes move just a little bit faster, their muscles recover just a tad bit quicker. I really don't think the difference between an Usain Bolt and a Tyson Gay is practice. Or that no one has been able to beat Federer/Nadal/Djokovic in a decade consistently because they're not practicing hard enough. At the highest level, it's a game of milliseconds and 0.1% improvements. The truly great just somehow have that

dragandj 7y ago

I think it is the opposite: there is a huge number of people in any nation, so talent is abundant. The thing is that at the top tier everyone is talented, and usually the dedication and factors other than talent, including luck, is what makes the difference.

toasterlovin 7y ago
FWIW, it’s pretty clear to anybody who watches pro sports that talent differs dramatically even at the highest level.
- dragandj 7y ago
  I am not sure that most people that watch pro sports have knowledge to judge the fine details. What is pretty clear to anybody is that someone plays better, but what is not clear is why is that so. For every dominant pro athlete there might be many that were injured or had other problems that degraded their performance.
  - toasterlovin 7y ago
    It's pretty clear to even unskilled watchers that, for instance, Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neil are/were talented in a way that no players before or since were. Both players can move with the speed and agility of payers that weigh 50 lbs less. And if it's true that innate talent is the major differentiator at literally the pinnacle of the sport, why would one assume that it somehow ceases to be the case at the levels just below that? Especially when every single professional player has access to the same resources and hours in the day for the practice and training aspect of sports performance? And, FWIW, Shaq was notorious for his poor work ethic. He never practiced basic skills (free throw shooting) and always started a new season overweight and out of shape. Then there's the fastest person who ever lived, Usain Bolt, who trains less than a motivated amateur cross fitter.
  - puranjay 7y ago
    The truly greats in most sports just seem to have something "extra" that can't be earned by practice and skill alone. Their reflexes move just a little bit faster, their muscles recover just a tad bit quicker. I really don't think the difference between an Usain Bolt and a Tyson Gay is practice. Or that no one has been able to beat Federer/Nadal/Djokovic in a decade consistently because they're not practicing hard enough. At the highest level, it's a game of milliseconds and 0.1% improvements. The truly great just somehow have that