Are you born with it?

[spacefuzz]

most of my family are artists, musicians, writers....very creative types and I have gotten to watch them all progress over the years. Theres no innate talent there, lots of hard work and dedication, especially to make a living off it. Everyone can believe what they want of course, but I will stick with the science and know I can make myself an expert at anything if I want to put in the hard work. If you dont believe in yourself and dont want to push yourself...fine by me, less competition at the top!

Does your family know you think they're untalented? I find your statement extremely hard to believe. "creative types" certainly implies that they had some talent that led them to get training and work hard. I assume you know the whole story then of their youth and what they showed ability in or not. I don't know any "creative types" that had no innate ability that led them to pursue the arts. And "making a living off it" has nothing to do with the topic of whether someone is born with creativity and talent. Business sense is a whole other kettle of fish. Van Gogh sold 1 painting in his lifetime but his creativity is unquestioned. I find it funny that you say you want to "stick with science". I think you would be hard-pressed to find ANY science to back up your position of creativity and talent not being innate to some extent... and of course, you may want to read some science on left/right brain.

Sure my family knows that its not talent, but hard work. And I only included "making a living off it" so that you know that they have achieved a level of recognition beyond ordinary hobbyists. My cousin even got 2nd place on America's Got Talent a few years ago. But his "inborn talent" was thousands of hours of practice as a child. When I was putzing around on computer games, he was practicing piano....for hours and hours.

I have read plenty on left brain/right brain and my wife is fascinated by such things so I hear about it often (more often than I would like but shhh dont tell her). For scientific analysis there is a great book I read called Talent is Overrated which is full of examples and case studies of how people get really good at what they do. Its a very interesting read and re-oriented my thinking on talent (as I used to think that it was mostly inborn as well). There are several other books on the subject as well....but they are still in my reading que.

 

[jake337]

Here ya go - test yourself to see where you are on the scale? Fun to try anyway...

Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test at The Art Institute of Vancouver

Cheers,

WesternGuy

Fun test.
Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test - The Art Institute of Vancouver

[TD="class: extfont1-sm, width: 120"]Left Brain[/TD]
[TD="class: extfont1-sm, width: 120"]Right Brain[/TD]

[TD="class: font1b"]43%[/TD]
[TD="class: font1b"]57%[/TD]

 

[mishele]

[TD="class: extfont1-sm"]Left Brain[/TD]
[TD="class: extfont1-sm"]Right Brain[/TD]

[TD="class: font1b"]38%[/TD]
[TD="class: font1b"]62%[/TD]

lol athlete and artist
You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the "whole" picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the "whole" picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.

 

[Overread15 3]

Left Brain.. Right Brain
56%......... 44%

"Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge."

Darn it I can't be a photographer! But I can judge creative skating performances?

 

[Josh66]

Wow - I was 50% Left, 51% Right. Pretty much an even split.

Not only am I more normal that you guys, but I'm smarter too, since my numbers added up to 101%. :lmao:

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[pixilstudio]

as a licensed art teacher... yes you can do it. take an art class any art class all the principles are the same for all mediums

 

[spacefuzz]

I got left brain 57% and right brain 43%

But I dont think thats 100% correct since I usually see the big picture not the parts. My wife sees the parts, and we have a hard time explaining things to each other.

 

[imagemaker46]

37%-63% I guess I fit into my career and athlete.

 

[bennielou]

I'm not really sure if this is good or bad.....LOL!

Left Brain: 26
Right Brain: 74

I think the study, while fun, (thanks Westernguy!) says that I am an absent minded idiot drawn to shiny things. My husband would agree.

Here is the link to my results if anyone is interested:
Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test - The Art Institute of Vancouver

 

[Compaq]

Left: 53
Right: 47

I'm studying chemistry, and am competent in maths and logic thinking.. Interesting test. Much fits, some doesn't.

http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_results.pl#Logical

 

[bennielou]

Holy Cow Bitter, we had nearly the same score! No wonder I adore you.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

So basically, the people here who don't believe in innate talent or creativity, are of the new mindset that everyone is a winner, or can be, and simply nobody is special in any way. That anyone can be or do whatever they want if they just put their mind to it and practice. Bull.


I work in a building that is the historic jewelery distric in cleveland. There are 3 other trade shops that do exactly what I do. All 3 have been doing this, for at least 10 years longer than I have. 2 went to the same school as I did, and one was taught by his father. ALL THREE are complaining about being slow, and struggling, and hope the economy improves soon. In the meantime I work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and am raking in the dough. I have have fixed jobs for each of these three other jewelers, that the customer was unhappy with. One comes down and picks my brain to figure out how to do jobs. Then there is me. I am repeatedly referred by other jewelers TO other jewelers. I repeatedly get work that other jewelers refuse to do. I went on my own, opening a business when the economy was down, and gold is at an all time high, and I turn away work because I DON'T HAVE TIME. Others are struggling. My prices are higher than than everyone elses. Why am I so succesful? Because I have something others don't. I am head and shoulders above those who have been doing this for longer, have had much more time for practicing and refining their skills. I am slowly being compared to some of the old jewelers who are at the top in this city. I am not the best yet.


Not everyone has the same critical thinking abilities, nor creative thinking abilities. Not everyone has the ability to create a tool to solve a problem. Nor can everyone be nutured to the point of genius as so many are suggesting here. You can't ignore brain chemistry, hard wiring, or genetics.

As for the licensed art teacher...yeah, you can teach the mechanics all you want, but you are only addressing a small portion of the bigger picture.

Why is it so wrong to think that some people are just special, talented, or gifted? Why is there a need to pretend everyone can be equal in all ways?

 

[bennielou]

I agree Bitter. I try to learn math but I'm just not hard wired for tha.........
oh wait, I just saw something sparkly.........
I'll be back.....
Maybe.....

 

[vfotog]

So basically, the people here who don't believe in innate talent or creativity, are of the new mindset that everyone is a winner, or can be, and simply nobody is special in any way. That anyone can be or do whatever they want if they just put their mind to it and practice. Bull.


I work in a building that is the historic jewelery distric in cleveland. There are 3 other trade shops that do exactly what I do. All 3 have been doing this, for at least 10 years longer than I have. 2 went to the same school as I did, and one was taught by his father. ALL THREE are complaining about being slow, and struggling, and hope the economy improves soon. In the meantime I work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and am raking in the dough. I have have fixed jobs for each of these three other jewelers, that the customer was unhappy with. One comes down and picks my brain to figure out how to do jobs. Then there is me. I am repeatedly referred by other jewelers TO other jewelers. I repeatedly get work that other jewelers refuse to do. I went on my own, opening a business when the economy was down, and gold is at an all time high, and I turn away work because I DON'T HAVE TIME. Others are struggling. My prices are higher than than everyone elses. Why am I so succesful? Because I have something others don't. I am head and shoulders above those who have been doing this for longer, have had much more time for practicing and refining their skills. I am slowly being compared to some of the old jewelers who are at the top in this city. I am not the best yet.


Not everyone has the same critical thinking abilities, nor creative thinking abilities. Not everyone has the ability to create a tool to solve a problem. Nor can everyone be nutured to the point of genius as so many are suggesting here. You can't ignore brain chemistry, hard wiring, or genetics.

As for the licensed art teacher...yeah, you can teach the mechanics all you want, but you are only addressing a small portion of the bigger picture.

Why is it so wrong to think that some people are just special, talented, or gifted? Why is there a need to pretend everyone can be equal in all ways?

kinda weird, ain't it? why some people want to think that we are all identical is beyond me. We are all different, with different strengths and weaknesses. It was obvious by elementary school I could draw much better than my classmates. It wasn't work or lessons or practice: the ability was inborn. My daughter has innate musical talent. It was there to nurture. Do some people really think with some lessons they can be as brilliant as Einstein or paint like Da Vinci or sing like Streisand or write songs like Dylan? Really? You can improve skills but you can only work with what you have. Why the fear of acknowledging our individuality?