Passion VS Talent

I was recently involved with a friend in a conversation regarding college majors. She expressed confusion as to which one to pick.

"What are you passionate about?" Inquired I.

She replied "I think a lot of people know what they're talented at, I'm just not so sure."

This brought to my mind thoughts concerning the dissonance I percieved between the term "Passion" and "Talent".

Talent, I believe, is a fantastic term to mean effientcy or effectiveness. This word, I feel is best applied to people such as say, construction or factory workers.

On that other hand, passion is a trait which cannot in any way be objectively defined, but must be experienced. A good example of passion is Pablo Neruda. His earlier works are often considered rough and perhaps even amateurish, but when one considers the sheer depth of the feelings being dumped onto those pages, one must recoil.

What do you think? What's more important? Talent or passion? Being able to do things effiently and effectively, or doing things with the greatest emotional backing possible?

Well, being a lot closer to the passion side than the talented side, I'm hoping passion goes a long way.

Not sure if Neruda is the go-to guy for your analogy. One of his early works was Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair (actually his second published work iirc) -- definitely passionate, but hardly amateurish imo.

Concerning your talent vs passion issue: a prostitute has talent, but not passion; an ingenue has passion, but not talent.

Yeats has something to say about it ...

passion fuels talent. they cannot be separated and are tough to compare, at least in my mind. passion comes first and helps you get to the next level of talent.

Talent is an aptitude. Passion is drive. Skill occurs when talent and passion collide (Hey, kind of sounds like the beginnings of a lyric!).

Anyway, I was born with a talent for sports. In jr. high school, I was great at basketball without even trying. However, I didn't have a passion for it and didn't develop great enough skill. By the time I got to high school, I was bumped down to 2nd string because all the guys with less talent and more passion developed greater skill than me, thus ending my basketball career.

+1

Well, I was certified as having "absolutely no musical talent whatsoever" by a couple of different musical pedagogues so I guess I've got a dog in this fight.

It took a long time for my passion for music to convince me that I could overcome my apparent lack of aptitude. There was a lot of boring, frustrating work at the beginning before it started sounding vaguely like music...

At first I would have been happy to be able to just strum a few chords and be able to sing along -- I never dreamed I'd develop any skill to speak of.

And I have known a fair number of musicians for whom it all seemed to come easily -- but who seemed to lack any drive or passion -- or who had lost it, if they ever had it. Or who were simply content to imitate other musicians.

+1. You need both to acquire skill. With knowledge and time you can acquire judgment. If you have both skill and judgment (and a big helping of luck) you may eventually achieve something worthwhile.

I'm not sure I buy the linguistic distinction between talent and skill, but for this discussion, I'll accept that "talent" means the innate ability to do something, or a facility for learning it, while "skill" means the measurable ability to perform a task, whether it is acquired through practice or inborn.

By this definition, talent is not something you can control, but skill can be improved and honed by practice and study. Having passion for a subject will definitely make you more likely to practice and will allow you to enjoy it more, so I can see passion being a catalyst that can develop talent into skill.

I think there is more to it than that, though. There are many "skilled" musicians that do not deliver passionate performances. Maybe they are passionate about improving their technique, or passionate perfectionists when it comes to honing their sound, but that's not the same as communicating that passion to the listener. Since music is at its most basic level a form of communication, this ability to communicate passion is very important.

Yngwie Malmsteen may be very skilled, and I'm sure it took a lot of passion to reach that level of shred-hood, but he has often been criticized for lacking an emotional resonance. Someone like Bruce Springsteen, on the contrary, may sing a wrong note from time to time, but you can hear his heart and soul poured into every line.

For me, as a listener to music, Springsteen's kind of passion is what I look for. It's something I can identify with.

Back to the original question, though, I would say both of them chose the right profession, in terms of finding satisfying creative outlets. So either way, passion trumps talent.

QED.

If you are passionate about something that tends to turn into talent since you immerse yourself in what you love to do. But yes Passion is more important.

Passion is stronger than talent , because it is passion that brings out talent.

Not always true, as per someone like The Sex Pistols. Not sure if it ever brought out a lot of talent there :-) They were passionate though, at least about heroin.

To the original post, the key is discovering one's passion. Our educational system used to be one that helped people discover what they were good at doing and build those talents into a skill-set that would provide a future for them. Much of that changed with the "you can be anything you want to be" school of thought. Unfortunately, I have seen many people that are inept at their job because it was not chosen based on something they love to do. In such cases, I recommend a diversion that gives them the passion they should have and they will feel rewarded.

I have several passions and have successfully pursued them. If I followed my mother's wishes for me and became a lawyer, I would most likely have been successful, but not happy, ultimately.

My advice to anyone is explore many possibilities and find your passion. Visualize your success in that endeavour and believe in your ability to achieve it. Then, be willing to cultivate that talent.

All the great ones are thieves. They take a little here, a little there and it becomes an original. I think of the Beatles and Nirvana (odd bedfellows, eh?), most of their songs were easier and bluesy. Both were totally pop and interjected themselves into basic musicianship.

When I think too much, it is horrible. In fact, I think there has to be a catalyst that brings forth the music, crazy girlfriend, death in family, or something deep inside.

I've only written one song, but I have a suitcase full of riffs and beats that haven't met yet.

My musical talent is embryonic and apparently has a gestation period measured in lifetimes. Most people would have given up guitar if they were given what I have.... musically. ( I am a hell of an engineer though.) But it's my passion for music and the feelings that music can communicate that keeps me playing.

I need both but am satisfied that I at least have a full measure of passion, albeit just a small measure of talent.

BTW, I use the word "passion" without really taking the time to define what I mean. It has something to do with the love of a thing. And love is of the heart and maybe the spirit. While talent is of the mind and body... and maybe the spirit too.

where do you think that "creativity" fits among "passion" and "talent"? In a short listen to your music, in addition to the obvious talent and passion, I detect alot of creativity.

I'm more passionate about music than talented. I'm a pretty passionate person though...that's just the way I am. However, I understand that without any sort of talent, you have pretty much nothing to work from.

Like we used to say in boxing...... "heart only gets you so far."

Before I got in the ring with a guy he told me that his best attribute was his heart. I told him, "you could have all the heart in the world, but you're still going to get the {censored} beat out of you."

Well I think you need both to the 100%

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And then talent fuels passion. The better you get at something, the more fun it is.

+1

Talent !!!

However there is nothing wrong with passion, but people I know who run hot and cold on emotion are often not capable to produce anything art, are incapable of clear thinking about mixed feelings, however I think bubbly Venezuelan ladies are wonderful...

that is true but at first isn't there passion to start before talent:confused:

I think talent and passion are both important---when it comes to art if you have the ability (talent) to express what you feel then we have artistic expression. I think blue put it very succinctly...you can be talented at what you do but perhaps it can take a long time, years to develop a signature sound.I believe your art grows with your life.When you reach a stage that your talent can bring out your passion or feel, than you have something pretty powerful imo...