Is success in school a matter of work ethic or natural talent?

Lixin

Do you guys and girls think that success in school can be attributed more to work ethic or to natural talent? I would hope that it is mostly down to determination and your willingness to learn and work, but I still have to acknowledge natural IQ and stuff like that as a possibility; since I am definitely not a genius. I'm just asking since it seems that everyone has their own view on this issue, and that the students I know who are top scoring say that it's work ethic while students with average grades stipulate that it's natural talent. I think that there might be some of causality paradox, just wanted your guys' opinions.

Sine

Lixin

If it is an either or question probably work ethic being more important than natural talent. I feel like a strong work ethic would get you decently far but having just 'natural talent' without doing anything probably wouldn't yield good results.

The real answer is probably more complex as others have already alluded to, being a combination of things like socio-economic status, available resources, home environment, work put in, genetics

FloraD

Lixin Based on my own schooling life, I think at the end of the day it's how efficiently and how smart you study rather than how hard you work or how good you are. Like you can work as hard as anything and not get the marks you want. You also can be naturally smart and pull of only a decent mark (kinda like the hare and the tortoise story). What matters is your incentive to beat your own record and your interest in what you do. Thus I would say it comes down to determination and believing that you are capable (:

aurora

This is a really good question, and something I think about often.

Rather than being one or the other, I believe it is a blend between the two. I do believe that there is natural talent (not knowing whether it can be scientifically backed up), however I think to properly implement this in life, you need to work hard simultaneously. If one feels as though their natural talent or "luck" can get them through school at the most, it can last for a bit but the real world requires determination and wanting to work hard to achieve what you want. I also believe that people who rely on their natural, innate talent will eventually learn that it doesn't do much at all (me in primary school honestly 😅 )

So ultimately, I think it is determination and knowing what your goals are as you progress through life that leads to success. Natural talent plays a part, but it is only small and lasts a short while.
(this did not make sense sorry i'm sleep deprived)

Lixin

aurora. For a sleep deprived person, that response was surprisingly articulated. Nevertheless, I do think that you have a point because there always seems to be the 'smart kids' when everyone is young. However, high school, university, and real life as a whole really shows that even if you are naturally talented for more gifted than others, that only brings you so far. At my school. there are so many people who said that they were smart as young kids but are getting destroyed by actual high school and VCE; it's really a testament to the fact that even though natural born talent can bring you a certain distance in life, the rest of it is just hard work.

jinx_58

Knowing how to play the system really helps. Like knowing exactly what the markers expect of you to write for a particular question.

-jinx_58

Emmy

jinx_58 this is what I do but I also found my best marks were in the topics I genuinely knew, not just the topics that had questions I knew how to answer if that makes sense.

Orb

From my experience working with over 500+ VCE students over the last 7 years, a pretty reasonable, statistically-supported conclusion from what I've gathered would be:

To go from below-average/average to Top 1-3% (work ethic)
To go from Top 1-3% to Top 0.1% (talent + a bit of luck)

I am 100% certain that any hard-working student (as long as you do not have any learning disabilities and are in an environment where you are supported with your studies), with the right support system and an efficient + effective study process - can score in the Top 1.5-2% of the state (in fact, over the last few years, i've offered a 45+ raw study score guarantee for any dedicated student who is willing to put in effort when working with me link: https://edatlas.com.au/vce-raw-study-score-guarantee-edatlas/).

Now, while a 45 raw in a subject like Specialist is realistically still Top 2-3 at 99% of schools in the state, to really go from a 45 raw to a 50 raw in Specialist requires a bit more than hard work - and requires a baseline level of talent + luck.

From my experience, this principle holds for a lot of activities in life. If you train everyday and truly commit in a sport like basketball, it's perceivable that you could one day be a Top 1% basketball player in the country. But if you wanted to make the NBA (the top 450 or so players in the world)? You not only need to work hard but also need a certain level of baseline talent in the sport (as well as genetic factors such as height).

P.S. For those curious about how I am so confident that our process + hard work yields results - the guarantee is pretty simple
We give you several booklets of our proprietary question sets, we test you on the booklet questions (sourced word-for-word from the booklets, so you should have done them before) - and as long as you've mastered our booklets (i.e. 90%+ on all tests) - you'll get at least a 45 raw. And if you don't? Your entire tuition (including U1/2 if you've studied with us) - is free.
It's not an easy process - but anyone with a deeply committed work ethic can get there.

danielmeyers

Society has always extolled people endowed with talents. Many believe that having special abilities is the key to success.

However, research proves that an increased emphasis on talent or intelligence makes a person extremely vulnerable to failure. He begins to fear the challenges of fate and is unable to overcome temporary difficulties.

A student who has been taught from birth that he or she is very smart and capable will believe he or she is talented because he or she does not put forth much effort in studying. Most likely, such a student will sooner or later be forced to ask for a professional write paper for me at https://writemypapers4me.net/. Over time, this confidence makes a person believe that if he makes mistakes or has to make an effort to achieve results, then he is mediocrity.

The consequence is a loss of self-confidence and motivation to continue learning. Often parents, by exaggeratedly praising the abilities of children, harm them. Any prodigy should be taught to focus on the effort put in to achieve good results, not on the presence of talent.

Only a student who sees the mistakes he or she makes as mere problems that can be solved can be successful. After all, even the achievements of those we call geniuses are the result not only of innate ability but also of years of hard work.