Natural ability??

[sayman]

I am planning to write a synopsis of the book when I'm done, with the intention of applying some of the principals at work. I'll post it here in case anyone is interested - otherwise it's a "tldr".

[ras1983]

Some more food for thought: http://mobile.news.com.au/breaking-n...-1226430905811

[facepalmmaster]

Nobody can pick up a guitar or bass and automatically be amazing, it takes a LOT of work. However, i think some people are more suited for learning music than others, and learning in general. I think I personally have the ability to pick things up quickly, as i picked up cello and bass fairly easily. However, i wasn't good overnight, nobody can be.

[ras1983]

I think the conclusion to come out of this whole discussion is that, even if some people pick things up faster than others (and the jury is still out on whether that is true), you need to work hard either way in order to improve and fulfil your potential.

[sayman]

That is one truth that gets overlooked - just how long and hard people work to become "Naturals".

[bevan lurrito]

An aspect of this discussion that has, I think, for the most part been neglected is the tendency of people to focus on one element of a problem to the exclusion of others.

My perspective on this could be attributed to hindsight bias or conformation bias, but I find it blindingly obvious that the presence (or lack thereof) of innate aptitude is merely a component of the puzzle.

As is the case with the endlessly amusing nature/nurture debate, the camps that are solidly in favor of X vs. Y are missing the big picture. "It" is inevitably, invariably, a combination of X + Y, Nature + Nurture, ability + effort, chocolate + peanut butter that makes good things come to pass.

Full stop.














Now...

Concerning those individuals that are given to magical thinking, and are, as a consequence of this unfortunate attribute, innately distrustful of science, I have a list of modest proposals for you.

To begin with, stop eating food. Any food that you are currently in the habit of consuming is in some way tainted by contact with the scourge of science. Actually, now that I think about it, so is your water. So stop drinking it.

You may as well stop washing too. Meteorology, chemistry, geology, and other dastardly scientific disciplines are implicated in your toilet habits.

When next you are feeling ill (which will be rather presently, due to your sudden lack of adequate nutrition and overall poor hygiene) don't bother to visit a physician. That doctor has taken quite a bit of instruction in anatomy, biology, chemistry, epidemiology, and who knows what other booger-bears they teach doctors these days. You are doubtless in better hands with a witch doctor or voodoo priest.

Actually, the best thing you could do would be to stop reading this, as it is displayed on an electronic device and is, as a result, all slathered with hot-buttered science, and strip off all your clothes. Once naked, you can run howling into the wilderness, take up residence in a cave, eat any little crawling thing you happen to be lucky enough to subdue with your terminal appendages, drink fetid water directly from the earth, contract a host of easily preventable parasitic, fungal, viral, and bacteriological afflictions, and die a sad little death, shaking your fist impotently at the boogy man Science.

Or you could just, you know, get over yourself.

Cheers!

SS

[Octavian]

Some more research on the subject in today's New York Times: Early Music Lessons Have Longtime Benefits

The relevant excerpt from the article:
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, are approaching the soundscape from a different point of view, studying the genetics of absolute, or perfect, pitch, that ability to identify any tone. Dr. Jane Gitschier, a professor of medicine and pediatrics who directs the study there, and her colleagues are trying to tease out both the genetics and the effects of early training.

“The immediate question we’ve been trying to get to is what are the variants in people’s genomes that could predispose an individual to have absolute pitch,” she said. “The hypothesis, further, is that those variants will then manifest as absolute pitch with the input of early musical training.”

Indeed, almost everyone who qualifies as having truly absolute pitch turns out to have had musical training in childhood (you can take the test and volunteer for the study at http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/study/).

[henry2513]

Originally Posted by Octavian

Some more research on the subject in today's New York Times: Early Music Lessons Have Longtime Benefits

The relevant excerpt from the article:
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, are approaching the soundscape from a different point of view, studying the genetics of absolute, or perfect, pitch, that ability to identify any tone. Dr. Jane Gitschier, a professor of medicine and pediatrics who directs the study there, and her colleagues are trying to tease out both the genetics and the effects of early training.

“The immediate question we’ve been trying to get to is what are the variants in people’s genomes that could predispose an individual to have absolute pitch,” she said. “The hypothesis, further, is that those variants will then manifest as absolute pitch with the input of early musical training.”

Indeed, almost everyone who qualifies as having truly absolute pitch turns out to have had musical training in childhood (you can take the test and volunteer for the study at http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/study/).

I'd rather have relative pitch, which is much more useful IMO. Relative pitch is something that can be developed with some work.