• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 01:22
CET 07:22
KST 15:22
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10
Community News
[BSL21] Ro.16 Group Stage (C->B->A->D)4Weekly Cups (Nov 17-23): Solar, MaxPax, Clem win2RSL Season 3: RO16 results & RO8 bracket13Weekly Cups (Nov 10-16): Reynor, Solar lead Zerg surge2[TLMC] Fall/Winter 2025 Ladder Map Rotation14
StarCraft 2
General
When will we find out if there are more tournament Weekly Cups (Nov 17-23): Solar, MaxPax, Clem win SC: Evo Complete - Ranked Ladder OPEN ALPHA Weekly Cups (Nov 10-16): Reynor, Solar lead Zerg surge RSL Season 3: RO16 results & RO8 bracket
Tourneys
Tenacious Turtle Tussle [Alpha Pro Series] Nice vs Cure RSL Revival: Season 3 $5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 501 Price of Progress Mutation # 500 Fright night Mutation # 499 Chilling Adaptation Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death
Brood War
General
Which season is the best in ASL? [BSL21] Ro.16 Group Stage (C->B->A->D) Data analysis on 70 million replays FlaSh on: Biggest Problem With SnOw's Playstyle soO on: FanTaSy's Potential Return to StarCraft
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] RO16 Tie Breaker - Group B - Sun 21:00 CET [BSL21] GosuLeague T1 Ro16 - Tue & Thu 22:00 CET [BSL21] RO16 Tie Breaker - Group A - Sat 21:00 CET
Strategy
Game Theory for Starcraft How to stay on top of macro? Current Meta PvZ map balance
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Beyond All Reason The Perfect Game Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games?
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Where to ask questions and add stream? The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Thanks for the RSL
Hildegard
The Health Impact of Joining…
TrAiDoS
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2112 users

Question

Blogs > nimysa
Post a Reply
Normal
nimysa
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States383 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-29 03:40:47
January 29 2009 03:37 GMT
#1
In order to properly excel at a particular field or reach a level beyond just proficiency, do you HAVE to HAVE talent or aptitude at an early age before adulthood in the field itself or something related to it?

Like for example, if you look at all the famous titans of history, you see that Napolean had a talent for organizing soldiers at a young age, Turing was a brilliant kid in his teen years, Einstein was sort of a prodigy etc etc etc

*
JWD
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States12607 Posts
January 29 2009 03:38 GMT
#2
Are you plotting world domination?
✌
IdrA
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
United States11541 Posts
January 29 2009 03:42 GMT
#3
those are hardly examples of 'beyond just proficiency'
given that you arent retarded or crippled you can be beyond proficient in just about anything if you work hard enough at it.

being a once in a century genius is a tad bit different

http://www.splitreason.com/product/1152 release the gracken tshirt now available
Nitrogen
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States5345 Posts
January 29 2009 03:45 GMT
#4
no, just put in effort and be willing to learn more about it
UNFUCK YOURSELF
nimysa
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States383 Posts
January 29 2009 03:46 GMT
#5
Well when you look at people like Bisu, Flash, and Pusan, they seemed to show talent at an early age. Do you know bonjwa's or even players near that level or at the very top that changed the course of BW but didn't fit in that scenario?
Ganfei
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Taiwan1439 Posts
January 29 2009 03:46 GMT
#6
I would say it depends on the field. Some fields are experience based, others are natural talent based, etc. You might have an insane physicist who doesn't know squat about plumbing, or an expert plumber who isn't that smart but just really knows what he is doing. In fields like quantum physics I don't think you can EXCEL without a natural talent for it, but you can certainly study and be proficient.
You are crushing me like a cheese sandwich
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
January 29 2009 03:46 GMT
#7
I don't think so. It's obviously easiest to start young, because after a certain age (I think it's 18? 19?) your capacity to learn just keeps going down.... But that doesn't make it impossible. You just have to be doing something the rest of the competition isn't. Being extremely good and famous at/for something have to do with luck as much as they have to do with talent.

If you want an example of success at a late age: Scott Adams' Dilbert only took off when he was already had a lot of work experience and was getting on the old side. But now you see how much that particular comic strip has exploded, and how refined his skills have gotten. His earliest cartoons did not look as polished as they do today, and he only started drawing them in adulthood. However, he did draw as a child, so maybe this isn't the example that broke the mold But typically the things you're good at you've been interested in your whole life, so I think that's more coincidence.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
January 29 2009 03:46 GMT
#8
Well think about it... of course you have to have talent in related fields at least. Either that or you did and just didn't realize it.

But is working hard more important than talent? Definitely.
Murlox
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
France1699 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-29 03:50:45
January 29 2009 03:49 GMT
#9
Yeah and add to that the emphasis of history itself... who knows if Napoleon was actually that good ? May be he just sucked ass in the beginning BUT this side got forgotten, or was made forgotten.

Edit : Ok this was slow.
Resistance ain't futile
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
January 29 2009 03:55 GMT
#10
On January 29 2009 12:46 travis wrote:
Well think about it... of course you have to have talent in related fields at least. Either that or you did and just didn't realize it.

But is working hard more important than talent? Definitely.

I think luck is more important than both if you put it that way. Lots of people work hard and never get anywhere because the opportunities aren't there for them. Unless you truly believe in the American Dream or something.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
theonemephisto
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States409 Posts
January 29 2009 04:21 GMT
#11
On January 29 2009 12:37 nimysa wrote:
In order to properly excel at a particular field or reach a level beyond just proficiency, do you HAVE to HAVE talent or aptitude at an early age before adulthood in the field itself or something related to it?

Like for example, if you look at all the famous titans of history, you see that Napolean had a talent for organizing soldiers at a young age, Turing was a brilliant kid in his teen years, Einstein was sort of a prodigy etc etc etc

I think your definition of "properly excelling" at something might be a little skewed.

Yes, it you want to be an absolutely amazing, once-in-a-lifetime genius at something, like all your examples, you probably need some natural talent.

If you want to be just beyond proficiency, being average or slightly below and working hard should easily get you there.
Zozma
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States1626 Posts
January 29 2009 04:35 GMT
#12
On January 29 2009 12:37 nimysa wrote: Einstein was sort of a prodigy etc etc etc
Uh... doesn't everybody always talk about how they thought Einstein was stupid and he did horribly in school up until his later years?
beefhamburger
Profile Joined December 2007
United States3962 Posts
January 29 2009 04:43 GMT
#13
On January 29 2009 13:35 Zozma wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 29 2009 12:37 nimysa wrote: Einstein was sort of a prodigy etc etc etc
Uh... doesn't everybody always talk about how they thought Einstein was stupid and he did horribly in school up until his later years?

He did horribly in school because he didn't care enough about the material (at least the math parts) because he already knew most of it as he was learning material much more complex. It wasn't because he was stupid, it's just he didn't have the motivation to focus on stuff that was too remedial to him.
Jibba
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States22883 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-29 04:55:31
January 29 2009 04:55 GMT
#14
Genghis Khan was a pretty average during his early life, Colin Powell was a C student, LBJ's first career was teaching in high school, etc.

The answer is no, many if not all successful people go through a crucible at some point in their life.
ModeratorNow I'm distant, dark in this anthrobeat
geometryb
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
United States1249 Posts
January 29 2009 06:13 GMT
#15
i hope not
SpiritoftheTunA
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
United States20903 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-29 06:43:19
January 29 2009 06:42 GMT
#16
einstein did badly in school cuz he didnt care about homework or tests

his first published paper was also completely false, something about the mechanisms of capillary action that made up new physics that didnt exist

worked as a patent clerk for awhile, wasn't afraid to publish classical mechanics contradicting shit in the form of the photoelectric effect, wasn't afraid to throw away the idea of the luminiferous ether, wasnt afraid to challenge newton on how gravity worked (gravity isn't an instantaenous force), and eventually, after painstaking work (10 years or so), learned the differential geometry to handle his own general relativity (he gained a newfound respect for math after that)

if you study the history of modern physics, you'll see that alot of the most prominent/important figures werent afraid to be bold in publishing new ideas and challenging old ones (de broglie, planck, etc)
posting on liquid sites in current year
AcrossFiveJulys
Profile Blog Joined September 2005
United States3612 Posts
January 29 2009 07:11 GMT
#17
I think passion for what you are doing is the most important decider in your success. If you consider Einstein's achievements, they are remarkable and make him look like a genius, but in reality he was a small fry until several years after he graduated from college. He would daydream about the way things worked and he eventually came up with the idea of relativity, which worked as a model for what he was seeing and imagined but just so happened to be empirically proved correct later on.

If you have passion for something, you'll know because you'll be thinking about it while you are walking outside, driving, in the shower, before you go to sleep, etc. The more you think about something, the more your brain/body will adapt to it and become better at it. Einstein's brain was studied after his death and they found that the region associated with 3D visualization was much larger than the average person... in my eyes this means that it grew as he required such skills for his work.
minus_human
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
4784 Posts
January 29 2009 13:18 GMT
#18

On January 29 2009 12:46 travis wrote:
Well think about it... of course you have to have talent in related fields at least. Either that or you did and just didn't realize it.

But is working hard more important than talent? Definitely.



Couldn't have said it better myself
nimysa
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States383 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-30 02:38:13
January 30 2009 02:37 GMT
#19
On January 29 2009 15:42 SpiritoftheTunA wrote:
einstein did badly in school cuz he didnt care about homework or tests

his first published paper was also completely false, something about the mechanisms of capillary action that made up new physics that didnt exist

worked as a patent clerk for awhile, wasn't afraid to publish classical mechanics contradicting shit in the form of the photoelectric effect, wasn't afraid to throw away the idea of the luminiferous ether, wasnt afraid to challenge newton on how gravity worked (gravity isn't an instantaenous force), and eventually, after painstaking work (10 years or so), learned the differential geometry to handle his own general relativity (he gained a newfound respect for math after that)

if you study the history of modern physics, you'll see that alot of the most prominent/important figures werent afraid to be bold in publishing new ideas and challenging old ones (de broglie, planck, etc)

Now that you mention it, could you mention some books related to that? (About Einstein and scientists sucking, contradicting, and working hard etc).

Secondly I thought Einstein had mastered differential calculus when by the time he was 15? The whole thing about him sucking at school was primarily language related or false when concerning his poor aptitude in math or physics, could you tell me what exactly is right?
fusionsdf
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
Canada15390 Posts
January 30 2009 06:26 GMT
#20
Question
What kind of bear is best?
SKT_Best: "I actually chose Protoss because it was so hard for me to defeat Protoss as a Terran. When I first started Brood War, my main race was Terran."
fusionsdf
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
Canada15390 Posts
January 30 2009 06:27 GMT
#21
On January 29 2009 12:46 nimysa wrote:
Well when you look at people like Bisu, Flash, and Pusan, they seemed to show talent at an early age. Do you know bonjwa's or even players near that level or at the very top that changed the course of BW but didn't fit in that scenario?


stork didnt

be stork
SKT_Best: "I actually chose Protoss because it was so hard for me to defeat Protoss as a Terran. When I first started Brood War, my main race was Terran."
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 38m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 521
Hyun 184
zelot 128
Noble 118
NaDa 30
sorry 20
Bale 10
Rain 1
Dota 2
monkeys_forever384
NeuroSwarm99
League of Legends
JimRising 758
Counter-Strike
C9.Mang0353
Other Games
summit1g12003
Mew2King145
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1021
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream252
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 76
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki30
• Diggity10
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Rush1679
• Lourlo1089
• Stunt456
Other Games
• Shiphtur254
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
3h 38m
Replay Cast
16h 38m
OSC
1d 10h
LAN Event
1d 11h
Replay Cast
1d 16h
Replay Cast
2 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
Wardi Open
4 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
StarCraft2.fi
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Wardi Open
5 days
StarCraft2.fi
5 days
Wardi Open
6 days
StarCraft2.fi
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

SOOP Univ League 2025
RSL Revival: Season 3
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
CSCL: Masked Kings S3
Slon Tour Season 2
META Madness #9
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2

Upcoming

BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.