Funny how the conclusion that someone is "talented" or "naturally" good at something is always observed in retrospect. It's a mystical attribute we bestow on people after we see them excelling at something. You'd think, if talent was a real physical phenomenon, you'd be able to identify and measure it before it manifests in a skill, and use that measurement to predict future success at that skill, but it never happens this way.
When we say someone is talented, we're often overlooking the enormous amount of focus and practice the person did in order to reach their level, and instead just declaring that something supernatural was the cause. I'm a pretty good programmer. I didn't get that way because of some supernatural force or mystical spirit. I wasn't born knowing how to program. But I did practice over and over and over from a young age, spending tens of thousands of hours on it. If someone told me I was just naturally talented, I'd take it as an insult--it totally ignores the amount of hard work and practice I put into the skill.
When we say someone is talented, we're often overlooking the enormous amount of focus and practice the person did in order to reach their level, and instead just declaring that something supernatural was the cause. I'm a pretty good programmer. I didn't get that way because of some supernatural force or mystical spirit. I wasn't born knowing how to program. But I did practice over and over and over from a young age, spending tens of thousands of hours on it. If someone told me I was just naturally talented, I'd take it as an insult--it totally ignores the amount of hard work and practice I put into the skill.