Talent Is Largely a Myth
Talent isn’t a myth, it’s a prerequisite. Same for hard work.<p>I could put in all the hours of practice and guided training into boxing as Mike Tyson and I wouldn’t get nearly the same results. And I [like to] imagine Tyson could spend as much time programming as I have and not be nearly as good.<p>Talent is a multiplier. When you’re learning something you have a talent for, you’ll know.<p>For example: in high school I was very into art and into programming. I could spend 30 hours on a digital painting and it looked <i>okay</i>. But when I spent 30 hours on python, I was fluent in a weekend.<p>Some folks I knew could take those 30 hours of drawing and produce a painting that would take me 3 months. Even after adjusting for baseline skill.<p>Their rate of improvement was simply beyond anything I could achieve. Same as my rate of improvement in programming was beyond what they could pull off.<p>Crucially: Talent isn’t a measure of how good you are <i>now</i>. It’s a measure of <i>how fast you improve with practice</i>.