• javasux@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    If someone has just started learning to do something and is unexpectedly good at it, you can call that talent.

    If you say that someone has a talent for doing something that they’ve done for a long time and put a lot of practice into, that’s when I consider it rude.

    • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
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      10 months ago

      What if someone does something for a long time and puts in a lot of practice and they’re not as good as/better than other people with similar time & work?

      • javasux@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Then the average person is going to have a much harder time attributing proficiency to either of those factors, and it’s much more appropriate to just compliment their hard work and dedication.

            • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
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              10 months ago

              Do you think work is separable from a person’s circumstances of birth? Lots of things influence a person’s ability to work, chiefly how much money they were born into, but also some people are born with certain abilities that make them more capable of doing work.

              Do you think work is more valuable because it somehow comes from a person’s character? Is character separable from birth?

              And also, what about someone who worked as hard as they could and could only ever achieve a middling career in their chosen field? Do you put their apparent failure down to simply not working hard enough? Do you think that’s rude?