separate Kinds of Skills
It's tempting to think of ourselves like characters in a video game, with a unavoidable fixed pool of pre-programmed skills we can't ever deviate from. That's how I used to think of myself. As a kid, I was good at running, reading, and programming, but I couldn't do math, or sing, or-- this is a little embarrassing-- tie my shoes. But eventually, I discovered a qualified "meta-skill", the quality to pick up whatever new skills I wanted. I learned how to teach myself new abilities. I didn't even need a teacher-- just a book, or even just a website.
separate Kinds of Skills
Let's take a look at some of the separate types of skills in the world.
Innate Skills Vs. Learned Skills
An innate skill is one you have from birth. A learned skill is one you pick up at some point later in life, from a classroom or a book or a teacher or any other method. unavoidable abilities obviously fall in one type or the other. The quality to pilot a jet is obviously not something whatever had when they came out of the womb. On the other hand, the quality to see colors is something you're born with (provided you're not totally color blind).
That last example seems roughly trivial; seeing colors is hardly really a "skill", so much as it's just something built into your body. As a matter of fact, the Only innate skills are trivial ones like this. This is a good thing, because it means you can gain any other skill you like-- along with ones which some population mistakenly think are innate.
The best example is math. A coarse complaint is: "I'm just not any good at math." This sentiment reflects a confidence that population are naturally born being good at math, or not. This is an unempowering confidence system, leaving us at the whims of fate. I was terrible at math until the seventh grade. I opinion I was just born that way. Then one day I was seduced by the gorgeous illustrations in Euclid's "Elements", and as I read straight through the old propositions in that book, I realized math was learnable. Now I'm a third year math PhD student!
Hobbies And Chores
Another way to divide skills up is to distinguish hobbies from chores. A hobby quality is something you do for fun, something that makes you feel like a child again, something you'd do even if you weren't being paid. Chores are things we do to put food on the table. For most people, playing cards is a hobby, while washing the dishes is a chore.
What determines either an quality is a hobby or a chore, is either we do it because we select to or because we're forced to. But here, again, the dichotomy isn't quite what it seems. The truth is, we're hardly forced to do anything. An accountant is not forced to do accounting: he all the time has the option of quitting his job. Even a soldier doesn't have to fight, having the option to opt for court martial and jail instead.
So with the exception of the basics like breathing and eating, every chore is something which we chose to do. No matter how lousy someone's job is, they're there because they chose to be there, and they can leave at any time. Yes, I am saying what you think I'm saying: every chore is a hobby. This counterintuitive claim reflects a deeper metaphysical asset of the universe: we all get exactly what we want-- just sometimes we don't really know or direct our deepest inner desire.
Skills And Metaskills
This group isn't really a division, but a hierarchy: every meta-ability is an ability, but not vice versa. The "meta" prefix indicates that the quality acts upon other abilities. For example, when I learned that it was possible to teach myself whatever skill I desire, that's an example of a metaskill: the quality to learn any skill. Other examples consist of the quality to teach any skill, the quality to analyze any skill, the quality to write about any skill, and so on.
The coolest thing about these "meta" abilities is that they can act on themselves recursively. For example, as someone with the meta-ability to teach myself any skill, in singular I can teach myself more about self-teaching. someone who can teach any skill, can, in particular, also teach that teaching ability.
Conclusion
Be wary of buying into arbitrary divisions among talents-- there's normally more to these divisions than meets the eye. When in doubt, all the time go with whichever confidence is more empowering. either you're right or wrong, you're more empowered either way. Even if a limiting confidence were true, it would still be limiting.
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