Adam Smith suggests that talent is not the result of nature or nurture… ‘The difference between a philosopher and common street porter seems to arise not so much from nature as from habit, custom and education’. For the first six to eight years, of life there were no remarkable differences.
According to Smith the differences only emerged when, ‘about that age, or soon after they come to be employed in very different occupations’. The difference of talents becomes noticeable until, ‘at last the vanity of the philosopher is willing to acknowledge scarce any resemblance’.
DEFINING IDEA…
Everyone according to their talent and every talent according to its work.
~ FRENCH PROVERB
First of all, it’s hard to imagine that a person’s ‘career’ would begin at the age of six or eight. Can you imagine the kids you know of that age doing anything but playing? And yet, in Smith’s time, children as young as six were working pistons on fire engines, pulling coal carks up mine shafts and doing long shifts in textile mills. It would be forty-three years after Smith’s death before any legislation protecting children was passed. The Factory Act of 1833 outlawed children younger than nine from the textile industry and limited the length of shifts, as well as setting out provisions for education. Still, it was a very tough life.
Smith suggests there is very little to differentiate one child from another and it was purely down to luck and circumstance whether you ended up a philosopher or a street sweeper. The same is probably true today and certainly the snobbery between the two is alive and well.
The current education system does not cater for the identification of talents that may sit outside Maths, English or Science. Luckily there are moves toward this goal, although it will probably be many decades before it makes its way into mainstream teaching. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences was developed in 1983. Dr Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard suggested measuring intelligence based on IQ was far too limited. Instead he proposed eight different intelligences to account for the broad range of human potential:
• Verbal - Linguistic Intelligence (Reading)
• Logical - Mathematical Intelligence (Maths)
• Visual - Spatial Intelligence (Art)
• Bodily - Kinesthetic Intelligence (Building)
• Musical Intelligence (Music)
• Interpersonal Intelligence (Working Together)
• Intrapersonal Intelligence (Personal Work)
• Naturalistic Intelligence (Nature).
Dr Gardner’s work demonstrates the depth and breath of individual talent and suggests we all have innate differences that can offer clues to our abilities and potential careers. Perhaps if we were more open to these subtle indications at an early age, people would be better able to find jobs and careers that made them truly happy rather than simply paid the bills.
HERE’S AN IDEA FOR YOU…
If you have kids or work with children, look out for the little clues. Keep a record of the things they say - apart from anything else, this will be great fodder for their twenty-first birthday party speech. What do they say they want to do when they grow up? Make a note of the subtle differences so that you can tell them in later life. Often these clues can be helpful in steering a child into a profession that will make them happy.