I'm reading an interesting article in "The New Yorker" about whether "genius" is related to age. (And, yes, I am way behind on my "New Yorker" reading, thanks for pointing that out, but in all fairness, this issue did get buried in a pile of papers, so I'm not that far behind.) Anyway, the article discusses that, although most people equate genius with precocity, it isn't really true. Although there are many people who have done great work when they were in their twenties (Orson Welles, Picasso, Mozart), there are plenty of folks who did their great work when they were considerably older (Hitchcock, Mark Twain, Cezanne).
The article discusses that it isn't that these late bloomers are discovered late; it's that these guys need time to develop. Their talents don't come from instinct, but rather, they have to work at what they do. They have to experiment and try, try again. That, frankly, they weren't very good at what they did when they were young, but they kept plugging away.
This article makes me very happy. I like the idea that I still could get good at something. That I just need to put in the work. I'm not saying that I'm going to be a genius or a fantastic talent, but I like that there is still time. I think that I've had the feeling that if I didn't accomplish something when I was young, I would never accomplish anything big. This article basically says that this is a myth -- keep working.
Now, to find what that thing might be...
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