When people see somebody they perceive to be really good at something, they often say, “Wow, they are so talented!”

I think that’s a bullshit compliment.

The difficult and visible part about being really good at something isn’t talent; it’s hard work.

• Talent makes it possible to get really good faster

  • You can’t know whether somebody has talent or not unless you have seen and compared their slope: compared to somebody who worked equally hard from the same starting point, did they get better faster?

  • But you can also get really good if you don’t have a natural talent, it just takes longer and more hard work

• Whether you have talent or not, you can only be really good with hard work. Nobody is really good without hard work.

• So, almost all of the time when people say, “Wow, they are so talented!” they have no idea whether or not the person is actually talented. They just recognize that the person is really good.

So, somebody that’s really good at something should be complimented for their hard work, not for their talent.