An aptitude is a component of a competency to do a certain kind of
work at a certain level, which can also be considered "talent".
Aptitudes may be physical or mental. Aptitude is not knowledge, understanding,
learned or acquired abilities (skills) or attitude. The innate nature of
aptitude is in contrast to achievement, which represents knowledge or ability
that is gained.1
Talent may be an innate natural aptitude in regard to a certain
type of work; however, it is something which must be supported and sustained on
a regular basis. There are many people
who can play various keys on a piano and many of the these people are even quite
capable to playing various musical compositions, but not everyone can sit down
and begin to compose music like Ludwig van Beethoven or Sergei Rachmaninoff. These
men had an innate ability which only improved with use.
However, there are some people who believe
that if they wear the proper clothing or know the right people then somehow
their “talent” will be discovered, regardless of whether or not such talent
actually exists. This is quite evident
on television shows such as “America’s Got Talent” or “Ukraine’s Got
Talent”. Some of the people who appear
on these shows have innate talent which is acknowledged by professionals in a
given field; however, there are other people who are living in a fantasy world where
they believe that they possess a talent in singing, dancing, or some other
area. Many of these people are
astonished when they are told that they do not possess such a talent and often
become angry at the judges for saying that they do not have such a talent. The truth can be a very painful thing to
accept; however, there is no virtue in lying to someone and encouraging them to
‘work harder’ when this person does not possess the basis of any real talent.
Ivan
Andreyevich Krylov
(1769-1844) was an extremely talented fabulist and he would have been able to
see if others possessed talent also. In
“The Quartet” 2, Krylov addresses whether or not playing “musical
chairs” actually increases talent. In
fact, it is quite possible that the concept of “playing musical chairs” originated
in this fable.
Simply sitting down at a desk with a pen and
paper does not help to inspire the next Edgar Allan Poe in the same way that
simply sitting down at a piano would not inspire the next Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. However, it would appear that Monkey, Donkey,
Goat, and Bear have convinced themselves that they have some hidden talent that
no one else can see.
We often see this in government work also. Many people are promoted or reassigned
to new jobs not because of their talent, but because their supervisor wants to remove this person from his or her department and having this person transferred is easier than having this person removed from their job. While it might not be easy, sometimes it is both necessary and charitable to say, as the nightingale said,
“"For making music, you must have the knack
And ears more musical than yours,"
The nightingale comes back,
"And you, my friends, no matter your
positions,
Will never be musicians!"
End Notes
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