Originally Posted by La Texican
Lazy "westerners", hoping for talent and cruel "Chinese mothers" forcing mindless drills until midnight so the cute puppy can do a trick by morning are both wrong.

But talent (like IQ) is real, and lots of practice can only compensate so much for a lack of it. There's also a vast middle ground between expecting to get by on talent alone (never works) and expecting to be a huge success with practice alone (also doesn't work).

Think of people who pick something up in days --- yet it takes weeks or months for others who are average to get the same thing. Talent did that, not practice.

Think of people who can run faster than all the other kids in the school when they're ten. Talent did that, not practice. Practice is what will turn those kids into athletes who compete at a national level or higher.

Think of people who are forced to sit at the piano until they get the piece, because Mommy said so. They might play the piece eventually, but some won't be able to transfer the technique to a new piece. Practice did that. Not talent.