my first grader plays the piano/ keyboard by ear, nobody taught him to do that. i would say he has a gift

by Anonymous 10 months ago

When my dad was just ten years old, he could already play a bunch of instruments. He is now a very skilled musician and probably has perfect pitch, he never even took a single lesson. Whenever I asked him how he learned to play guitar and keyboard so well at such a young age, he never bragged about it. He simply said he had loads of free time as a kid and was crazy about music, so it all just came naturally

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Would you not then say that perfect pitch is a gift?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I actually don't know if he has perfect pitch, but he certainly trained himself hard enough that you can't distinguish the difference

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I'm not sure I understand, would you not consider your dad a gifted child at the time then? As you said, his upbringing didn't teach him any of the skills he was gifted at.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I don't think he's gifted because he doesn't think so himself. I'd say someone is 'really gifted' when we can't explain where their skills come from. My dad, on the other hand, says it's all because he had a huge interest in music and lots of time to practice. He never took any official lessons, but it's basically like he accidentally took a bunch of lessons anyway. So, anyone with enough passion and patience can achieve stuff like that. It's probably the same for that first-grader. He probably grew up in an environment that developed his musical sense, either directly or indirectly. I don't know him personally, but I'm just speaking from my own experience. Every super talented person I've met had those exact same factors that made them so good. They weren't born with it

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Do you think Danny DeVito could have been a professional basketball player if he were raised in the right environment? Could Andre the Giant have been a professional horse jockey if not for the environment he was raised in?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

We are not discussing physical attributes in this context; you are free to leave.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

You don't seem to understand that brains have varying physical attributes in exactly the same way that the rest of the body does.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Elton John and Mozart have entered the chat.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

"Leopold Mozart(Mozart's father), a native of Augsburg,\[5\] then an Imperial Free City in the Holy Roman Empire, **was a minor composer and an experienced teacher."** Sure, his upbringing absolutely had nothing to do with his remarkable skills

by Anonymous 10 months ago

He clearly had a gift, my guy. You can't force talent. If the kid sucked at writing music, there'd be no fixing that at his age. Sure his father likely influenced him to, you know, get into music, but a teacher can only do so much.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I read somewhere that Mozart walked up to the piano by himself and started playing what he had heard his sister play. I've tried to teach a five year old piano and they had no idea what was going on.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

if you grab any random five-year-old and try to teach them piano, chances are they won't have a clue what you're talking about. But let's be real here, Mozart wasn't just any five-year-old. His dad was a freakin composer. Whether he realized it or not, Mozart probably got some unofficial lessons from his old man and must have seen a bunch of badass pianists in his life. So yeah, it's no surprise it came easier to him

by Anonymous 10 months ago

One thing you're missing here is a bunch of kids at the time or any time had a composer as a parent - 99.9% of them did not become Mozart. That's where the gifted part comes in.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

as i said, there is not only one factor; having a composer as a parent is a good start, but that's not all. Geniuses are created, not born

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Or maybe genetic differences are real things and you're talking out of your ass right now?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Just because you like blaming genetic predispositions for your failures, it doesn't mean it's always the case for everyone else. You were just lazy \_\_ or poor; now cry about it

by Anonymous 10 months ago

you mean to say kids that were born into a family of people who value education are more prone to be being gifted? crazy. but also not true. i was a "gifted" kid but my parents didn't have college degrees or crazy world travel. gifted classes in school aren't a constant telling of how special the kids are. it's more advanced/intricate lessons and a greater work load than average classes, so challenge the kids and instill work ethic, since they'd be bored and under stimulated otherwise.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Not entirely true as some people have physical or psychological abilities that with the help of normal dedication or interest makes them have a natural advantage over other people in set field

by Anonymous 10 months ago

My friend is a professional ballet dancer. We grew up dancing together. You can watch videos of us dancing when we're young kids (think 5-6) and even then you could tell she was naturally just suited for ballet. Her hands were perfectly placed, she was graceful and musical where the rest of us look like 5-6 year olds doing ballet. By the time she went to ballet school at 13, she was just incredible and it wasn't like watching a 13 year old dance. She was raised by a single mother and my dance school gave free classes just so she could continue dancing as her mother couldn't afford the classes and the pointe shoes. She ended up getting a full scholarship. I think it's safe to say that she was very gifted. Yes she works incredibly hard and she always has. You can't have a professional career in ballet without hard work but she was always a naturally talented dancer and that was obvious from the start

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I have known people who are great at music, sports, painting, poetry, etc. From the first time they picked a ball, brush or violin, it was clear they had more talent than the people around them. The ones who have practiced their skills are simply amazing. I enjoy music and sports but it is clear that people like Yo-Yo Ma and Lionel Messi are simply better than the rest of us. They have extraordinary natural skills which they have honed with dedication. You may not like the word gifted but they started with an advantage that we lack. We can work hard and improve tremendously but their talent is too much to overcome.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

So you just think there are 'normal', 'learning difficulties' & the spectrum doesn't continue in the other direction?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Exactly. The fact that the spectrum goes into one direction doesn't directly implies it goes to the opposite

by Anonymous 10 months ago

In this case it does because it focuses on development. People can be average in development, they can be a little ahead, or they can be a little behind. "Gifted" just means you are ahead of your average peer.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Grade school was so boring until they started a gifted program that had much less structure, rules and homework, we sat around and talked about philosophy, politics and history with teachers and kids who wanted to have intelligent insightful conversations - it made kids want to learn

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I don't think there's much point in beating a dead horse here, but seriously, no one should believe this, or worse, use it as a crutch to not pursue their talents. Where money will most certainly create opportunities to enhance a young person's genetically inherited abilities, it is not the basis of genius. I get the idea that we outwardly project our insecurities and failures, but talent/natural ability/giftedness is real. Ignoring it turns a blind eye to those who come from humble beginnings and leveraged their innate skills to create noticable change for themselves and others. If you squandered your talent or perhaps found yourself in a much deeper pond then what your ego has grown used to, that's fine- many talented folks out there can relate to that. To say that it's all about money and our mental/physical abilities are only representative of the money we had during our formative years is nonsense.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I literally said it was not only about the money, but in my case, it was. I can completely understand how a poor math professor can have highly talented kids(in math), and how does that "turn a blind eye to those who come from humble beginnings and leveraged their innate skills to create noticeable change for themselves and others"? It has nothing to do with my point.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Then your premise of "being gifted is not a real thing" is defeated by your own words. I really don't know what else you want here besides attention. If you're just mildly intelligent with a +5 helm of daddy's money then that doesn't put you in the pool of truly gifted individuals. If your parents had a solid foundation in some form of art or science which you picked up faster than others, that's great- still doesn't make you truly gifted. Gifted doesn't necessarily mean that they are the next Einstein, it just means their raw, unshaped abilities demonstrably exceed the baseline expectation in ways that normally dwarf their peers, on average.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

And the thing is, many of those kids labeled as "gifted" were just fortunate enough to grow up in the right environment. So basically, you're saying that they're not truly gifted, right? You're actually agreeing with me that a big chunk of these supposedly gifted kids aren't actually gifted. So, where's the argument against my point? That's exactly what I was saying, plain and simple.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

No but I think I see your confusion. Money is not the genesis of their talent, it helps identify and tune. The talent is there whether or not the money, even indirectly, finds it.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Intelligence is genetic as well as environmental. You seem to be ignoring a large part of that equation.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Someone never got their macaroni art on the fridge

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Ad hominem.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Why do you need a psychologist to tell you your gifted? That makes no sense.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

because self diagnosis is worth nothing

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Being "gifted" is based on demonstrated academic excellence. The child is far ahead of their peers. Test scores and teacher observations are the diagnosis. Happened that way 30 years ago for me, currently happening that way for my kids.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Unless we are talking about a private school, I believe that all students should receive the same education. No special breaks for smart kids, unless their parents pay for it.

by Anonymous 10 months ago