Originally Posted by AlexsMom
Originally Posted by Val
Others wouldn't be able to recall 14 digits backwards, regardless of effort.

Memory appears to be something extremely susceptible to improvement-by-training. I found the article here to be very interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/20/magazine/mind-secrets.html

I think you missed my point. I was definitely not trying to claim that practice doesn't improve performance. I was saying that there's a point beyond which practice won't help in the face of insufficient talent.

Let me put this another way: people here talk about the very high intelligence of their children. Do these kids really have an extreme set of talents, or are they just working hard/being made to work hard? If the latter, do the schools have a point when they make accusations about hothousing the kids?

Practice is a necessary ingredient in success. But referring back to the hard work myth, and as Edwin pointed out, it's only one ingredient.