Among creative people and critics of different eras and countries, disputes about the understanding and meaning of this word probably never stop. Some people think that talent is the destiny of the elect, God's spark, which arises quite unpredictably and quite rarely on Earth. Others believe that talent is something that is given to each of us, and any person can use certain methods to identify their extraordinary abilities in a particular area, and then develop them correctly with the help of special exercises. Some people think that 99% of success depends on this concept, and some that talent is 90% work and daily exercises! Who knows? Or maybe a calling is a talent? Let's try to at least a little understand this, frankly, a difficult issue.
Definition of concept
According to dictionaries and encyclopedias, this word is defined as the presence of certain outstanding abilities in a particular person or group of people. As a rule, they are manifested in the creative achievements of various types of arts, professional innovations, and the like. Thus, the rest of society judgesavailability of talent mainly based on performance. And they, of course, must be innovative, with a fresh and original approach to the topic and material. Different talents can manifest themselves at different ages: from early childhood (Mozart in music is a prime example) to experience-rich maturity (for example, many philosophical works).
Congenital or acquired
An opinion that is quite widespread: that talent is a consequence and a possible result of only innate and genetically determined abilities of people. The so-called gift. But many years of experiments and studies conducted by some scientists testified that almost every one of us has the beginnings of various talents from birth. And already this or that degree of their subsequent development can be caused by education and training. From which it directly follows that talent is abilities developed and approved through experience and the acquisition of skills.
People and animals
Many researchers believe that this concept is unique to humans. But some people think otherwise. Indeed, in higher mammals, for example, primates or dolphins, amazing abilities can be identified and developed. What has been repeatedly proven in various examples and experiments, documented. And in India, dolphins are generally officially recognized as a reasonable race, different from humans. Probably, after all, talent is not only a human privilege!
Social characteristics
Be that as it may, a person's talent is rather one of his social characteristics, rather than a strict scientific definition. It is a purely everyday concept, since there are no definite and clearly verified diagnostic methods for its detection and evaluation. The levels of talent are usually judged by other people, the surrounding society. And judgments are formed depending on the products of activity and their novelty. However, over time, estimates of significance may change, and the relevance of creations may be lost, and then oblivion is inevitable, as has happened more than once in the history of mankind: masters recognized by their era lost all value for posterity.
Etymology
The word itself comes from the name of the measure of weight and monetary unit in ancient Greece. And in Christianity there is a parable that the owner gave his three slaves a coin each - talent. The first one buried the money. The second - exchanged we alth. The third - multiplied. From here, by the way, then the expressions went: to increase or bury your talent in the ground (as many representatives of mankind do). In a figurative sense of the word: a gift of God, the possibility of creating a new one, equal to the Lord himself, who created people in his own image and likeness. This means that a person has such a privilege - to create and create!
Classification attempt
In an attempt to classify the concept itself, some minds, as they say, broke their heads. Questioning and being dissatisfied with such methodologies, one can still cite as an example"Framework of the Mind" by Howard Gardner. In it, the scientist identifies nine types of talent inherent in all people.
- Linguistic and verbal. Many writers and journalists, masters of the word and sharks of the pen possess it.
- Digital talent. It is inherent in programmers and people with a mathematical mindset.
- "By ear". Such talent is inherent in many musicians, linguists, polyglots.
- Spatial. Artists and designers have it.
- Physical. Athletes and, for example, dancers.
- Next comes personal and interpersonal, environmental talent and entrepreneurial talent related to time management and money.
Of course, such a classification is perceived rather conditionally, since the assessment criteria are the opinions of others, and the assessment is made mainly on the basis of the results presented to the public.
In music
There are quite a few criteria by which one can say: musical talent is the ability of a person to memorize, repeat, compose a melody and play various musical instruments. As a rule, these abilities appear at an early age, extremely early. Sometimes parents do not pay due attention to the relevant features of the child, and the stars go out without having time to light up. Sometimes - as in the case of Mozart - the talent is intensively developed by the parent, and backed up by knowledge and experience, it flares up like the sun!
Sometimes the opposite happens: adults consider the child to be brilliantly gifted, indulging him in every possible way, and therebybreaking his fate. How to understand this subtle and sensitive issue, because talented children are so vulnerable at times? There are simply good musicians, and there are talents close to genius. The latter, as a rule, hear much more in music than an ordinary person, they cannot imagine life without it, it is their natural and urgent need. With a good teacher, almost any kid can be turned into an average musician who understands harmony and notes, who can play quite complex works by respected authors from sight. For a genius, learning is not the most important thing (although with an experienced teacher, talent is realized faster). What is important is inner motivation, a sense of oneself in music, God's gift, the desire to improve and develop oneself. Often, students with these qualities outperform their experienced teachers at an early age (and this is true not only in the music industry).
How to recognize
It is noted that the musical abilities of a child can be recognized already by the age of three. This is what can become the key to the formation of future talent and even genius in this field. Researchers, before recording their own child as a genius, advise using several tests that test the child’s abilities regarding hearing (of course, musical, not ordinary), sensitivity to rhythm, and musical memory. Experienced teachers even have special methods for determining the talent of kids at such an early age. They are focused on not waiting for the age of 7, whenusually sent to a music school, start to develop abilities. Who knows, maybe by the age of seven your child will already be playing several instruments professionally and writing his own pieces, thereby proving that musical talent is a feature that is inherent in him?
Tests
If there is a musical instrument in the house, for example, a piano (or a toy synthesizer, finally), one of the simple tests can be carried out. They are designed to bring out hidden talent. This is the child's distinction between the pitch of a sound (of course, everything should happen in a playful way so that the child is interested), its tonality and speed of reproduction. You can hit the keys, saying: and this is how the mouse squeaks, and this is how the bear walks, and this is how the fox. Asking the baby then to identify these sounds: who is it - a bear or a mouse? It has been noticed that if a child has a good ear for music, then he will be able to determine the differences from the first time as early as 2-3 years old.
Guess the melody and rhythm
Another wonderful "children's" test is to guess simple melodies by the baby. You need to select several, and each designate a specific picture or object. After playing the notes, ask the child to recognize them next time by pointing to a specific pattern or object. So you can test your musical memory. If recognition occurs quickly, we can talk about the presence of a corresponding talent. A sense of rhythm is tested in a similar way. Clap your hands to the beat of the melody. If the baby can repeat the clapstogether with you next time, then he has a good sense of rhythm.
